Games Between Gangs
by Spark Plug x
Summary: Lyra is the new girl & she has a tiny, more like huge, problem. She's chosen to complete the daunting task of getting The Rockets, Magmas, Aquas, Galactics, & Plasmas to get along with one another. With so many different personalities ( & pokemon) clashing, plus a certain green haired rocket member that always seems to be around, can she avoid complete chaos? Yeah, probably not.
1. Chapter 1: Enter Lyra

**Okay, I hope you all like this new story! Just so you know, they will have pokemon in this story. And I also might need a few ocs. **

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Lyra Kotone wasn't very happy to be standing in front of her new high school. "Central Plains High?" She questioned as her mother ushered her into the school.

"I know this is inconvenient for you, sweetie, but my new job required me to live here. Don't worry, we won't have to move again for another few years and by then you'll be done with highschool." Her mother smiled brightly at her daughter, hoping to cheer her up. "This school looks so nice, so try to keep an open mind, okay?"

"I will I will." Lyra sighed, looking around the room. It was a large room with columns everywhere with posters and flyers covering them, advertising different school events and clubs. The tile on the floor was light blue in a large rectangle shape and turned white when it reached the columns. The lunch area was off to one corner. Tables with small round seats attached to them were folded up there and blocked the lunch area off to any students. Lyra assumed the janitors would unfold the tables and set them out on the blue rectangle when it got closer to lunch. There were large doorways on each side of the room that led down hallways lined with lockers. The office was set to face the lunchroom and had large windows that allowed them to watch the area. Doors on the farther side of the room led outside to covered walkways and large grassy areas, including the stadium and different fields for different sports.

"Seems like a great school, huh?" Her mom asked and walked into the office. Lyra followed her in.

"Good morning." A man in a suit with a bright red tie said. His brown hair was slicked back and he had dark eyes. "I'm the principle, Giovanni." The man introduced himself to them both.

"Hello, I'm Sarah Kotone and this is my daughter, Lyra." Her mother beamed, shaking the man's hand.

"Ah yes, we've been expecting you. We have a few papers we need you to fill out quickly." He led her mother down a small hallway into his office and Lyra plopped down onto a chair they had in the mini lounge area in the office. A tv hooked onto a tv stand on the wall quietly murmured as the weather man gave the forecast for the rest of the week.

Lyra looked down at her white and red sneakers and fiddled with her shoulder bag. She wished her mother let her unpack all of her things before enrolling her in school. All she could find that was school appropriate were jean shorts that went to her knees, a red shirt and a white jacket. Her hair was pulled back into two pigtails, as usual. She wanted to dress a little nicer, since it was her first day, but it was too late for that now.

"Don't whine." A woman's voice said from further back in the office. A woman appeared from the doorway and set her things on one of the two desks that were in the front of the office. "Good morning sweetheart, you need something?"

"Oh, no ma'am. My mom is in the back with the principle."

"So you're new here?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Well that's just wonderful! Ethan, come here. What was your name, sweetheart?"

"Lyra Kotone." Lyra answered as a boy with black hair that stuck out through his gold and black baseball cap that he wore backwards on his head.

"This is my son, Ethan. Ethan, this is Lyra Kotone, she's new here. Would you mind showing her around once the principle gives me her paperwork?"

"No problem." Ethan shrugged and walked over to Lyra. He slid his bookbag off of his shoulder and it slumped to the floor as he sat in a chair next to her. "So, what grade are you in?"

"Eleventh. I'm a junior." Lyra nodded as the boy smiled at her. He had bright gold eyes and she guessed that he always had a smile on his face.

"Me too! I'll have to check out your schedule once my mom pulls it up. Maybe we have a few classes together."

"I hope you're good at math, Ethan needs a good tutor." His mother told Lyra, making the girl chuckle while Ethan flushed with embarrassment.

"Mom!" He groaned as Lyra's mother re-appeared from the back of the office with a few papers in her hand. She handed them to Ethan's mom and smiled at Lyra.

"Already made a new friend?"

"Yes. He's going to show me around the school." Lyra told her mom and Ethan jumped up to shake her mother's hand and introduce himself.

"I'm Ethan Hibiki, ma'am." He said politely, knowing his mother would throw something at him if he didn't. He didn't need to get in trouble. Again.

"That's great, thank you for doing that Ethan! I'm Ms. Kotone." Her mother smiled back, impressed with the boy. "Well sweetie, I'm going to head home and finish with the unpacking. If you need me, just call me, okay?" She kissed Lyra's forehead and left the office.

"Lyra, here's your schedule!" Ethan's mother said, handing the girl a gold piece of paper. "This is your homeroom, but we only go to that on certain days. Here is your locker number and the combination. Ethan can take you by the library so they can give you the books you need for your classes. Try out your locker and go by every one of your classes so you'll know where they are."

"No worries mom, I know what to do." Ethan smiled and pulled his bookbag back onto his back. "I'll see you later." He told his mom and held the office door open for Lyra. She smiled at him and they left together. He took her schedule and looked it over. "Sweet, we have three classes together. I hope you're good at math.."He muttered the last part, taking her towards the library to get her books. Once they got them, he took her by her locker so she could put them up. "Your locker is near your 4th period, those are what we call the classes, which is math with me! My locker is just two down." Ethan explained. "Okay, let's start with your first class. We only have 30 more minutes until school starts."

Ethan showed her all her classes while talking about the school and his pokemon. She was excited to hear he had a typhlosion, the evolutionary form of her cyndaquil. She was a little worried because the classes seemed to be more focused on pokemon than her other school had been. They even had a gym period where they would train and battle each other! She knew she wouldn't be able to win many battles since her pokemon weren't the strongest. Her mareep, Fritz, was a cutie, but it wasn't the strongest pokemon.

Soon people began to gather in the main area of the school, right in front of the office. Ethan explained that people either hung around outside, or came into the building and stood in the light blue rectangle and chatted with one another. He also told her his address and luckily she lived close by, so he told her his mom and he could come pick her up and they could come to school together.

"Really? That would be great! Your mom doesn't mind, does she?"

"No, she won't mind."

"Thanks so much! I was worried I wasn't going to have a good first day." Lyra admitted as they found an open spot in the sea of students who were standing on the blue tile.

"Anyday is a good day when you have me in it!" Ethan laughed. "Well I wasn't going to let you wander around confused. Who knows who would scoop you up? You gotta watch your back around this school."

"Hm? Why?" Lyra asked, now confused.

"Well…" Ethan started, but was cut off by a male with red spiked up hair with a small piece falling onto his face. He looked a little older than Ethan, but had the same friendly smile as the boy. "Oh, hey Lance!" Ethan greeted the other male. "Lyra, this is Lance, the senior class president. Lance, this is Lyra. She just moved here."

"Ah, nice to meet you!" Lance shook her hand and kept a warm smile on his face. His hand was tough, but gentle at the same time. "Has Ethan already showed you around the school?"

"Nice to meet you too! Yes, he was a great tour guide." Lyra replied and Ethan gave her a thumb up.

"Good, but if you ever have a question, you can always ask me. Ethan likes to think he knows everything when he really doesn't." Lance joked. Lyra and he laughed while Ethan just pouted at them. "Do you mind if I look at your schedule?" Lyra shook her head and handed him the gold colored paper. "Ah, we have 2nd together. I hope you're a good opponent." Lance looked over her schedule once more before handing it back to her.

Lyra knew what he was talking about. 2nd period was gym, which was where they trained their pokemon and battled. She was going to be so embarrassed in front of everyone.

She pushed that to the back of her mind and turned to Ethan once more. "What were you saying before? About how I should watch my back?"

"Well, there are a few gangs around this school." Ethan said and Lyra felt a little jolt of nervousness. Gangs? "They're sort of like clubs…or groups…maybe teams?" Ethan looked at Lance for some help.

"They aren't super violent or anything, they aren't like the gangs you're probably thinking of Lyra." Lance explained, putting Lyra at ease. "You should still watch your back for them."

"Who are they?" She asked and looked around at all the people surrounding them.

"You'll see them soon enough, most of them are in our 2nd period." Ethan said and put his hands in his pockets. "They have some games coming up. Like an Olympic event or something like that, so things might get a little hectic around here." The bell rang as he finished his sentence. The three said goodbye and parted ways. Lyra, once dreading gym, was now anxious to get to it. She wanted to know who the gangs were. She didn't want to befriend any of them if they were going to be bad news!

"Hey." A voice said and she snapped out of her thoughts and looked around the area. People were moving all around her and she couldn't locate the owner of the voice. "Here." A hand held out something to her and she realized it was one of her buttons that she had on her bag.

"Oh, thank you!" She took the button and looked up at the person who returned her button. She was met with cold green eyes that had a bit of terror in them. They belonged to a male with short green hair that stuck out of the sides of his head in an old fashion. His expression was nothing close to warm and friendly as he muttered a "You're welcome" and turned from her, disappearing into a crowd of people.

She stared after him and then hurried to her 1st class, wondering who the male was.

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**Okay, I really hope you like this and I hope you're interested in it. I've never done a story like this, but I really think I can do a good job on it. Plus, I adore LyraxProton, so I'm going to work super hard on this story! I've already written out the basic plot for the next few chapters too! **


	2. Chapter 2: Enter Gangs

**FYI, Giovanni is not a bad guy, neither are the other teachers. They're nice dudes in this, no baddies except for the people in the gangs, and they aren't even too bad.**

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Lyra held onto the strap of her shoulder bag tightly as she walked down the crowded hallway. Her first class had gone very well, but now it was time for gym.

"There you are." Lance appeared beside her with the same warm smile on his face from earlier in the morning. "How was your first class here?"

"I liked it." Lyra smiled and the two walked to what she guessed was the classroom for gym. They were out in a courtyard area that had many battle areas scattered around it. Pathways lead to each other and trees and flowers and grass grew all around, making it very lush and a nice place to rest after a battle. "Oh wow, it's so beautiful!"

"Not as beautiful as you." A smooth voice chimed and Lyra was soon face to face with a boy with oynx eyes and messy black hair. He grinned at her and all she could see on his face was trouble.

"Carlos, leave her alone." Lance growled. The other boy held up his hands and slipped away, laughing as he did so. "Just ignore him. He flirts with anything that has boobs."

"Lovely." Lyra muttered, sighing. The cutest ones were always the flirts.

"Oh good, you didn't get lost!" Ethan joined them as more people appeared in the courtyard. Lyra noted that most of them seemed to be glaring at one another and the tension in the area was getting heavy. A few teachers with whistles around their neck came in, obviously the coaches of the class.

"Miss Kotone, since you're new here, I won't make you battle today." The head coach told her with a smile. "I realize this sort of class might be new to you, since your last school didn't focus too much on battling.."

"No sir, it didn't. Uh, I don't think my Pokémon are strong enough to battle everyone else's'…" Lyra said, embarrassed.

"No worries there. I won't make you battle those guys." He nodded towards a group of students who had the looks to kill. "There are many students who can help you train. We won't throw you into battles right away."

"Thank you.." Lyra gave a big sigh of relief.

"Okay! LISTEN UP!" The coach walked away from her as he shouted this and blew his whistle. He started to read off his clipboard while another coach directed a few students to a battle area to help them train.

"The coaches here may seem harsh, but they're pretty nice." Ethan told Lyra as the head coach started to pair people off to battle. "Uh oh, looks like he's trying to egg a fight on.."

"How so?" Lyra asked, confused.

"Oh yeah, you don't know about the gangs yet.." Lance remembered and crossed his arms. "Well, you have 5 gangs. The Rockets, Magmas, Aquas, Galactics, and the Plasmas."

"And luckily, we have almost all of them in this class." Ethan added. "First are the Rockets. The principle started it when he was a student here. The leader of it now is Archer, he's not in this class. Then you have Ariana, she's right over there." Ethan nodded towards the red-headed girl, who was tying her hair up in a ponytail as she glared at her opponent with a venomously look. "Then Petrel, look out for him, he's amazing at disguising himself." Ethan then nodded towards a boy who had his hands stuff in his pockets. He was hunched over and had purple hair that stuck up in a weird way. "Then Proton. He's cruel and mean, so avoid him. Good thing he's not in this class.."

"The last is Carlos, the boy that hit on you earlier." Lance motioned towards the boy. He was grinning and pulling up the sleeves of his black jacket, making the 3 red circles that were on the sleeves disappear. "He's a flirt and can be kind of funny, but watch out for him anyway." Lyra watched him call out a Rhyperior, that looked like it could lift a 2 ton truck. He jingled the red chain that hung from his black pants in anticipation.

"They call him the Rocket Beast because his talent in battle is impressive." Lance rolled his eyes at this. "To them, it is anyway."

"He's battling Shelly now. She's the leader of the Aquas. Archie, the biology teacher created that group when he was a student here. She's kind of a flirt and a bitch.." Ethan explained. Shelly flipped her orange curly hair over one shoulder and smirked at Carlos. "The girl with the long blonde hair and blue highlights is Gabi." Lyra directed her attention to a tiny pale girl. "She doesn't look strong, but she is." Lyra noticed the glare the girl was directing towards another girl, who was ignoring her.

"Cassius is the dork with the blonde hair with a brown streak down the middle. Makes him look like a shrunk." Lance said, even though his own hair was just as weird. "Once again, we have another flirt, but he really only messes with Natalie. He's okay, but, I don't trust him at all. He seems laid back and chill, but I'm sure he'll stab you in the back if you become too comfortable." Lance pointed at the boy, who was laughing. Lyra didn't understand how half of them could be bad people, they looked so nice.

"That leads us to the Magmas." Ethan started. "Maxie, the lit teacher started them when he was a student here. Tabitha, yes, that's his name, is the leader now. He's not in this class. Courtney, another member is other there. She's the girl with short black hair, chewing on bubblegum." He turned around to point at the girl who was helping a younger student to train. "She's actually nice. Then you have Brodie, he's even better at disguises than Petrel. He could be anyone, honestly. He's not in this class either."

"Natalie is the next member." Lance nodded towards the girl that had been ignoring Gabi's glare. She was now standing, getting into battle stance. She pulled up her blonde hair with an evil glint in her green eyes. She called out a large Arcanine with a simple smirk. "She can be imitating, but she's kind of funny."

Her pokemon was extremely imitating.

Well, to Lyra it was. It had sharp teeth and growled loudly.

"Only one Galactic is in this class, and that's Mars." Ethan turned around again and pointed at Mars. She had bright red hair, in an odd style, and was helping a younger student train, much like Courtney was. "She's weird. The other two are Saturn and Jupiter. Cyrus the mythology teacher started the group when he was a student here."

"The last is the Plasmas. They are weird, but honestly, the nicest of the groups." Lance started. "N is the leader and his dad, Ghetisis, who is the Economics started it when he was a student here. Touko and Touya are twins and N's best friends, they're really good kids. Minuet is the other member. She's alright I suppose." Lance nodded towards a girl with a long black ponytail. She didn't look too happy to be helping younger students train, but she wasn't making complaints about it either. "

"That's all of them." Ethan finished, putting his hands in his pockets as battles began across the courtyard. Shouts and bangs were heard and the tension doubled, if not tripled. Lyra jumped as someone tapped her shoulder.

"They want you up in the office." A coach told her. She nodded her head and hoped she could make it to the office and then back to class without getting lost. She left the loud courtyard and made a B-line to the office. She wondered why she was needed in the office anyway. Had she done something wrong? Was her mother here for her?

"Mr. Giovanni needs to see you in his office sweetheart." Ethan's mother said when she opened the door to the office. Lyra nodded her head and went into the back hallway of the office and followed the signs hung above the doors until she came to the one that said 'Principle'.

"Ah, Lyra, there you are. Come on in." Giovanni called to her. "Oh, please shut the door on your way in." She did as she was told and grew more nervous when she saw other men in the room with him. "I know you're probably wondering why you were called up here. First, let me introduce you to these teachers. , , Mr. Ghetisis and Mr. Cryus." He motioned to a man with black hair and a black beard who wore a blue bandana, a redheaded man with his hair slicked back, a man with green hair tied back in a loose ponytail, and a man with blue hair that stuck up in sharp looking spikes. These were the creators of the gangs!

"I understand that you have many members of the gangs in your 2nd period. I assume you've seen how much tension is in the air when they are around each other." Lyra nodded her head and waited for him to continue. "When we created the groups, many, many years ago, we didn't do it for them to hate each other as they do now."

"Well, we sort of did.." Archie muttered, looking at Maxie.

"But more as a rivalry." Giovanni said then directed his attention back to Lyra, who was still confused . "We decided to hold a little game for them. We want them to try and work together or at least get along with each other, and since you're new here, you can help us. You haven't interacted with any of them, so you aren't scared of them bias towards any of them, which is perfect."

'Yes, yes I am scared of some of them.' Lyra thought. "W-What do you want me to do?"

"We have a few riddles, codes, and other things planned for them. They know this, but they don't know they'll have to help each other out to win. We'll speak through you, and only you. So you tell them the riddles or mission, and you judge who wins the mission or gets the riddle right, and you tell us." Cyrus explained.

"W-Wait, so I have to be the judge? I have to befriend them?"

"Not all of them, but, basically, yes. I know it doesn't make much sense now, but it will soon." Archie smiled at her. "It'll be fun."

"Or a disaster. We haven't tried anything like this before." Ghetisis said.

"So, let me get this right. You guys give me messages, riddles, clues, whatever, and I go to your gang and tell them. Then, they try to figure out the riddle or do the task you want, and if they do it correctly I come back and tell you?" Lyra asked.

"And you tell us how they got along. The goal here is to make them get along better." Giovanni said. "That's basically it though. We never realized how spilt up the groups were and how they affect the student body. We'll tell them this today when we meet with out groups after school. Just be ready tomorrow."

"Oh..alright.." Lyra was still confused. She really didn't want to do this. She didn't want to talk to anyone that was in one of the gangs. Who cared if they looked friendly, they probably weren't. Forcing them into a game was not going to work. What it would do is destroy the whole school. She was dismissed and she left the office with her head down, thinking of ways she could get out of this school when she smacked into someone. "I'm so sorry!" She said and looked up to see the same guy that handed her her button earlier in the day.

"What?" He growled, now glaring daggers at her.

"Sorry!" She squeaked, scurrying away from him and back towards her class. This was too much on her first day! It was barely halfway through her first day and she was already becoming the target for all of the gangs. What if they threatened her to tell them the answers to their creators' riddles? What if they hurt her?!

She was going to have to become stronger sooner than she thought. She couldn't let herself get pushed around by these guys.

Once she got back to class, the bell rang. She sighed, but headed towards mythology, greeting Mr. Cyrus at the door as he nodded to her when she walked into his room. She plopped down into a seat and a boy gave her a worried look.

"Excuse me..but..thats Natalie Chem's seat.." He mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what?" Lyra asked.

"That seat, it's Natalie Chem's seat..the seat in front of me is open though."

Lyra thought back to the girl and her Arcanine and jumped out the seat and sat in front of the boy as Cassius and Nate entered the room. Cassius was talking while Nate looked like she was going to kill him.

"Thanks for the warning." Lyra sighed again, knowing she'd have to talk to her eventually, but wanted to put it off.

"No problem. I just knew Cassius would annoy her and put her in a bad mood and she would be ready to kill whoever was in her seat. Oh, I'm Sakutaro by the way."

"Lyra~" Lyra cheered and shook his hand. She noticed that the boy looked sort of young to be in highschool. He looked friendly though, so she wasn't going to question it. A girl with auburn haired pulled up in a ponytail sat to the left of her. She glanced at Lyra, but then looked away shyly. "Hello! I'm Lyra!" Lyra exclaimed, hoping to make friends her her.

"I'm Lucia. Night to meet you." She murmured, barely loud enough for Lyra to hear.

"Don't worry about Lucia, she takes a while to warm up to people." Sakutaro said happily, smiling at the girl. "Shes in my gym class. We're usually battle partners. She's really great at strategies but my combo moves totally win the battle when we get to do double battles!"

"Oh, really?" Lyra asked. "I should train with you two then. We never really battled at my last school, so I'm not too experienced with battles.."

"We'd love to help!" Sakutaro spoke as the bell rang. A girl with blue hair and violet eyes slid into the class. She sat in front of Nate and beside Lyra and turned to speak a few words with Nate. Lyra noted that as she turned to face the board in the front of the class, Nate looked annoyed and the girl was smirking. "That's Jo…she knows everything about anything.." He whispered. "I think she's in cahoots with all of the gangs.."

"Really?" Lyra asked, she could be helpful to her. She was going to say more, but Cyrus began to teach and all hell broke loose in the next 10 minutes.

"Grondon so beats out Kyroge!" Nate growled at Cassius, who was across the room.

"Yeah right, get your head outta the dirt." He called back.

"Enough you two." Cyrus yelled, glaring at them. "This is why you two aren't allowed to sit next to each other…"

"I think that Zekrom is the best legendary.." Minuet muttered, earning a glare from the other two gang members.

Lyra knew she was going to just love this class.

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**I hope I got everyone's character right. I want to let you guys know if you want to change anything about your character (their crushes/pokemon/enemies) Just message me. I understand that things will change as the story progresses, so I want to give you guys a chance to change your characters a bit. Thanks for reviewing! Sorry if this chapter is confusing, I had a hard time describing everything. It will make sense as the story progresses though! **


	3. Chapter 3: Enter The Start

"You ready?" Sakutaro asked, looking at Lyra, who was on the other end of her backyard.

"Uh..yeah.." She mumbled and her mareep, Fritz, turned to give her a look. It was Friday afternoon, just three days after she came to this new town, and she was trying to become more skilled in battle. Lucia was watching from the porch, sipping on a glass of lemonade Lyra's mother had made them. She was inside, finishing the unpacking, while the three teenagers were taking a battle break.

"Don't be too harsh on them, okay Ninetails?" Sakutaro nodded and his pokemon nodded back to him.

"You can't go easy, she won't learn if you do that." Lucia spoke up, watching the two carefully.

"She's right; show me what you've got!" Lyra clenched her fist.

"Alright, shall we dance?" Sakutaro grinned as his pokemon leapt into battle bravely, ready to take down the little sheep pokemon. "Hyper bomb!" Sakutaru ordered. His ninetails used smokescreen, surrounding the battle area. Lyra couldn't see her pokemon at all, and screamed when the area blew up. Fritz hit the ground, already fainted.

"W-what the hell!?" She shouted, confused as to what happened.

"One of his special combo attacks. Smokescreen plus ember makes explosion." Lucia said simply, sipping on her lemonade.

"Oh.." Lyra said, still in shock from it. She returned Fritz to her pokeball and decided it was time to get back to unpacking her things before she could be embarrassed anymore.

"Lyra sweetie, someone is at the door for you!" Her mother called.

Oh no.

It was one f the gang members. It had to be. She had given out the first riddles in 2nd period the day after she learned she would be the center for the games. She was wondering when the others, Team Galactice answered it the second she finished the riddle, would figure out their own riddles.

She trudged to the door, seeing the male with green hair and dark green eyes. The same one that had given her her button back and single handily scared the crap out of her on her first day.

"Uh, hi." She greeted, confused. Was he in the gangs? Sakutaro and Lucia gave her worried looks from the living room.

"The answer to the riddle is one." He said simply.

"Oh, uh, lemme check." Lyra mumbled, going to her bookbag and pulling out a binder, which had all the riddles and the answers in it. "Which team are you?"

"Rocket."

He was a rocket? He must be Proton! She tried to stay calm and checked the riddle. "Ah, you're right. I'll let Giovanni know that you got it…Proton, right?"

"That's me." 'He sure is a fan of short sentences' Lyra thought. "I'll see you later." And with that, he was gone, walking down the sidewalk back to his own home, she assumed.

"Oh god.." Sakutaro muttered, looking for scared than Lyra. "T-That was Proton! I can't believe he was civil to you!"

"Why was he here?" Lucia asked, confused more than scared.

"Ah…it's…a long story.." Lyra groaned, but explained it to them anyway. "And now I have to expect them to show up at my door, how they know my address I honestly don't know, at any moment and possibly make my mother worry about who I'm making friends with."

"Oh..that's pretty intense." Sakutaro chuckled. "Ah, you'll tough Lyra, you'll be fine! You'll get used to this anyway. Maybe this will actually help them get along better."

"Doubt it." A voice sounded from the door. Lyra had forgotten to close it and now Minuet was leaning against the door. She flipped her long hair and gave Lyra a bored expression.

"Oh, hey, Minuet, right?" Lyra asked and the girl nodded her head.

"Better hurry, I saw Gabi when I was on my way here, she'll be here soon."

"Oh, right, duh." Lyra grabbed the binder and flipped to Plasma's riddle.

"The answer should be…dark..?"

"Yup, that's it! Good job."

"Thanks. Let boss know we got it, okay? I don't need the twins yelling at me because you forgot to tell him we got it." Minuet was gone after that sentence and Lyra sighed, writing herself a reminder to email both Ghetisis and Giovanni.

"Pleasant…" Lucia muttered as Gabi appeared at the door. Nate was soon behind her, and Gabi glared at the other blonde, mad she had the nerve to walk up to the house when she was already there.

"Hey there, waterlog. What's up?" Nate greeted Gabi and then turned to Lyra. "Seems your busy so I'll make this quick. The answer is none."

"Our answer is five!" Gabi said after Nate and Lyra looked confused for a few moments, trying to remember what gang they were in.

"Magma for Nate and Aqua for Gabi." Lucia reminded her. "Of course the two that hate each other the most would be here."

" At least Cas didn't come." Nate shrugged and Gabi looked ready to punch her. "Oh poor a cold bucket of water on yourself Gabi, and calm down with the looks."

Gabi took a deep breath and just shook her head, keeping a blank look on her face, but secretly glaring at Nate. Lyra noted that the only hint that the girl even had emotions was when she glared at Nate, which was all the time.

"Okay, both of you are right, congrats." Lyra added Maxie and Archie to her email list.

"See you Monday." Nate turned on her heels and walked away, calling out a salamnce and flew away on it.

"Probably going off to see her stupid leader." Gabi muttered, rolling her eyes. "I can tell that you're worried and nervous about all of this." She turned her attention to Lyra. "I know you think we'll hurt you, but, we'll just end up hurting each other, not you."

"Oh..thanks.."

"Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Might want to train your pokemon more though, just in case." With that, the blond was walking away, her blue streaks in her hair shined in the sunlight.

"She can read people very well." Lucia explained. "I don't understand how she does it. No formula to help me understand it.."

Lyra checked her email later that evening and was slightly upset to see that all the teachers had replied with new riddles. She had no clue how she was going to tell the gangs about the riddles when she saw their phone numbered at the bottom of the email. She groaned, but set out a mass text to all of the rockets and magmas with their combined riddle, the aquas with their riddle, and then to galactic and plasma for their combined riddle.

'_Hey, chica! I didn't know you had my number!'_ Carlos replied first and she fell onto her bed. She just didn't want to do this.

'_Yup, Giovanni gave it to me.' _

'_That's great, I love texting pretty girls!'_

'_Don't even Carlos.' _She texted back. He replied with a frowny face, but she knew he was probably cackling, or whatever villains do, to himself. He flirted with every girl he saw. She didn't know how he got away with it. She reassumed unpacking, and then decided to actually program ever gang member's number onto her phone so she wouldn't be so confused when they replied, making sure it was Lyra who was texting them.

"You seem popular tonight!" Her mother cooed, seeing her daughter's phone light up and vibrate every few seconds.

"Oh, yeah, I made tons of friends at school."

"Like that handsome boy with the green hair? He was so polite." Her mother smiled and Lyra gave her a look.

"What."

"Oh yes, he was very polite to me. He seems to be a great boy."

'_My mother thinks you're polite and handsome and a great boy' _She texted to Proton after rolling her eyes at her mother. She was obviously never scared half to death by him before.

'_She's a smart woman. I am all of those things and beyond.' _Lyra almost cracked a smile as she read that.

'_You are terrifying.' _

'_I am the cruelest of all the Rockets, you do know that, right?'_

'_I assumed'_

Maybe she had judged Proton too quickly? He actually seemed to have a sense of humor and was less scary through text message. She had to remember to keep a fair head though. She couldn't start favoring one team over the others. She shut her door and turned off the light, ready for bed.

But, he was pretty cute.

But no no no, she had to keep a level head.

'_You assumed correctly, Lyra.' _

She smiled at this reply and fell back onto her bed, almost in a fit of giggles.

She had enjoyed a nice peaceful Saturday, helping with the last of the packing and cleaning. Her room was in perfect order now and she felt herself fall asleep until her mother busted into her room.

"Lyra! Two people are downstairs for you!" Her mother chimed. Lyra groaned, but changed into a red shirt and her jean cutoff shorts and jogged downstairs, surprised to see Carlos and Nate at the door.

"We have the answer." Nate said and Lyra grabbed the binder. "It's everything." Lyra checked and wrote it down that they were right/

"Hold up, how about we go out for Ice cream or something? Just coming to your door and spitting out an answer isn't polite." Carlos said. Lyra was going to politely refuse, but her Mother handed her $20 and pushed her out the door, telling Carlos and Nate to have her back by midnight.

"Guess we have two." Nate turned to her Arcanine "Can you handle it, boy?" He barked in responds and wagged his tail.

"We're…riding that?"

"That? Yes, well, unless you wanna ride on Carlos' charizard.

"Charberto rocks!" Carlos said and patted his charizard's head.

"I'll ride with Nate." Lyra said quickly, not knowing if her stomach could handle being in the air.

"Fine, let's get back to the guys, and girls." Carlos added. Lyra wanted to ask more, but Nate grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the giant dog pokemon. Carlos flew off and Lyra wrapped her arms tightly around Nate as her pokemon dashed off.

"Woah, not so fast boy." Nate patted his neck and he slowed down.

"The others are there?" Lyra asked as he slowed down.

"Yeah, we all meet up at the ice cream parlor, pokesters, to discuss the riddle. Courtney and Carlos were going to come tell you the answer, but Courtney said she didn't feel well and couldn't handle flying, so they chose me."

"Why didn't you fly?"

"And have to hold onto Carlos? Hell no." She rolled her eyes. "He was mad anyway. I think he has a thing for Courtney."

"Oh…" Lyra muttered. "Wait, you had a salamance yesterday afternoon when you came to tell me the answer…"

"What? That wasn't me. Bro-dammit Brodie!" Nate cursed as Lyra saw the bright lights of the restaurants and town area. She heard a male chuckle and Nate pulled on Arcanine's fur to slow him down as they reached the ice cream parlor.

"Sorry Nate, but I had to make sure I could get your sassiness down when it comes to talking with Gabi." Who Lyra assumed to be Brodie, said. He had dark purple hair that was half up and half down, with streaks of different colors in it. "You know how much she hates you."

"Don't remind me." Nate muttered, helping Lyra down off of her pokemon, who she then returned to his pokeball. Carlos was already chatting with Courtney and looked like he never even left. "Anyway, Lyra, this is Brodie." She motioned to him. "And that is Tabitha." She turned to a male with either purple-gray mixed hair, or dark purple hair, Lyra couldn't tell. He had dark eyes and handed Nate an ice cream cone. She smiled at him and Lyra went to go order herself ice cream.

"So are we ahead of the others?" Proton's voice startled Lyra, but she kept her calm composure.

"Yup, you are now." She pulled out the money her mother gave her from her pocket, but Proton beat her to it and flashed a card to her before handing it to the cashier. "Hey! I can pay for myself."

"I know you can." He took the card back after the lady swiped it and shrugged as the lady went to get Lyra her ice cream.

"Being nice to me won't help you guys win, you know. Giovanni told me I have to be fair." Lyra smirked, letting him know being friendly and nice wasn't going to get anywhere.

"Maybe I just felt like being nice?"

"Bull. You said it yourself that you were the cruelest of all the Rockets." Lyra reminded him and took her ice cream from the lady.

"I did, didn't I?" He asked, taking a quick lick of her ice cream before smirking at her. "Maybe I'm just being nice because it's the weekend?"

"Don't get your germs on my ice cream." She held it closer to her and glared at him. "Maybe that's it, but, I know you're just being nice to me to win the games. I just want you to know that the point of the games is not so you gangs can crush one another."

"What is the point of the games then?"

"Can't tell you." Lyra said and walked over to Nate again, knowing she'd be safe there if Proton decided to not be nice anymore.

* * *

**Guys I cannot seem to not make Proton flirty and cocky but I will make him meaner in the next chapter if you want that. I just love Lyra and him so much and all the fanfics with them together have him totally being horrible to her and I know that's his personality but I can't make him that horrible. The next chapter might be in Proton's POV. Might. **

**Thank you so much for the reviews. I wish I could adopt you all and let you live with me because you are all so precious, but, I don't have enough food for all of you and you guys would have to sleep on my bedroom floor, so, that doesn't work. **

**And my mommy and daddy would so not be okay with y'all livin' with us. **


	4. Chapter 4: Enter Jo's Dirt

**Warning: I really suck at battle scenes. Seriously guys. When I read fanfiction, I usually skip them because they bore me, so, that's why I suck at them. I'll try to get better at them. So please just go along with them now.**

* * *

Lyra yawned tiredly as she tried to stay upright in gym class Monday morning.

"Hey, earth to Lyraaaaa?" Mars snapped her fingers in front of Lyra, who stepped back in surprise. "C'mon, you're working with me today."

"Okay." Lyra said with another yawn. Mars led her over to a separate battle area. She called out her glameow and Nate took note and called out her cyndaquil.

"Okay, now, come at me with all you got!" Mars said. Lyra looked uneasy about it, but went with it.

"Cyndaquil, use ember!" The tiny pokemon shot out little orbs of fire and the glameow took the hit with a cry. "Now smokescreen!" Black smoke covered the field and Lyra gained confidence. "Okay, use another ember attack!" The glameow scanned the field, not knowing where the little fire pokemon was hidden. Fire shot out of the smoke and hit it square in the face. It looked back towards Mars, and then collapsed dramatically, looking like it had fainted.

"Good job Lyra!" Mars said, winking at her. "Congratulate your partner…"

"Oh, right!" Lyra hugged him tightly. "Way to go boy! You kicked butt!" Cyndaquil cheered, obviously very proud of its self. "Thank you." She mouthed to Mars. Cyndaquil looked much more confident about battling now; thinking that it had beat glameow easily did help it.

"Ready for a real battle?" Mars motioned towards a freshman who looked like a newbie trainer. "You got to get in the saddle sometime."

"Yeah…you ready for another go cyndaquil?" She asked the small pokemon, and it cheered in response, jumping to the ground at her feet. "Okay, time to kick some butt!"

"Don't get too cocky now.." Mars sighed as the newbie trainer called out his butterfree.

"Use poison powder!"

"Smokescreen!" Lyra ordered as purple powder mixed with black smoke. She coughed as the butterfree used gust. It swept the powder and smoke together and created a mini tornado that quickly disappeared into the air, along with the powder and smoke.

"Be careful with that poison powder!" Mars shouted from the sidelines.

"Sleep powder!" The boy ordered. Lyra didn't know how to avoid it, so she just used smokescreen again. The boy ordered another gust to clear the smoke away. The smoke and powder was blown away towards the other battle fields. Lyra watched as Nate and her espeon fell to the ground, asleep in the midst of a battle, as did Cassius and Petrel.

"No more attacks with powder!" Mars shouted.

"Sorry!" Lyra called, even though it wasn't technically her fault. "Okay, let's end this! Use ember!" The pokemon shot out the fire attack, and the butterfree cried as it was hit.

"Gu- uh, use…" The boy stammered, unsure what attack to do. He didn't want to catch the school on fire by using gust again the embers! Lyra used his pause as an opening and ordered for another ember, which fainted his pokemon.

"Alright!" Lyra squealed, grabbing her cyndaquil and twirling him in the air happily. "We've got this battling thing down!"

"Good…too bad you put three people to sleep…" Mars groaned, looking proud, but also tired. "We need practice more with those powders…" She told the boy, who just looked embarrassed.

* * *

"Where are Nate and Cassius?" Cyrus asked when the two blondes didn't show up for 3rd period.

"Uh, sir? There was an incident with sleeping powder in gym.." Lyra explained, and he nodded his head while rolling his eyes.

"Ooh~ I gotta hear this story." Jo turned around and looked at Lyra.

"Me too!" Sakutaro agreed and Lucia wanted to hear it too.

"Well…" Lyra started and told them the whole story. They all laughed and congratulated her on the win. "Thanks, but I still have a long way to go.."

"You'll be strong in no time." Jo told her and waved her hand in a carefree way, shrugging off the problem. "Next type, Ariana should be the one to fall asleep. I wonder if my chikorita can learn sleep powder…by the way, in case you didn't know, I'm Jo."

"Nice to meet you." Lyra shook her hand, even though she knew the girl. Jo sat in front of her in pokemon breeding class, a class Lyra could tell that Jo hated.

"You're in my pokemon breeding class, right? You're pretty good at it too, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. I guess I'm good at it." Lyra shrugged.

"Good! If you help me out in there, I can get you the inside scoop on the gangs!" Jo exclaimed and Lyra smiled. This is what she wanted! She needed to know about the gangs as much as possible. If she did, maybe she could help them get along better.

"Deal!" Lyra shook Jo's extended hand happily.

* * *

Lyra grabbed her lunchbox from her locker and headed towards the lunchroom. She stopped in her tracks when she looked down a small hallway that had bathrooms and a water fountain in it and connected two big hallways together. A guy was pushing a smaller boy against the wall, demanding his lunch money. Lyra was about to step in when someone came up behind her and patted her shoulder. Lyra jumped as Cassius walked by her and towards the bullying.

"Okay, you lousy rocket, go pick on someone your own size." Cassius stuck his hands into the pockets of his cut off cargo shots. Lyra didn't know there were more rockets, but she assumed that maybe the other members were more like grunts, and not higher ranked ones like Proton and Carlos. The rocket reached for his pokeballs but Cassius was faster. A sneasel was out and ready to attack before the grunt and could even touch his pokeballs. "Must I repeat myself?"

The grunt glared at him and ran off. The younger boy thanked Cassius repeatedly, who just smiled at him. "No problem, you might want to try joining the Aquas. Then you'll be able to stand up against those guys, we meet every Wednesday after school in Archie's classroom." Cassius said, acting way too excited about it. The boy agreed and hurried to lunch. Cassius turned to face Lyra and she stepped back, looking at his pokemon. "Oh yeah." He muttered, returning his pokemon to it's pokeball. "I hate doing recruiting, but if I wanna be the leader of the Aquas next year, Shelly says I have to do it." He chuckled and walked towards her, blowing a few strands of his hair out of his face as he did so.

"You only helped that kid so you could recruit him?" Lyra asked in a disgusted voice.

"Oh, no way. I don't like the Rockets taking money from weak freshman. It ain't that fair." Cassius explained, walking towards the lunchroom. "Want to walk with me? I wouldn't want that loser coming after you next."

"I'm not worried about him.." Lyra muttered, but hurried after Cassius, just in case.

"Just looking out for you. I wouldn't want the judge of our games and riddles to be hurt." Cassius smirked at her. "Thanks for that nice nap you let me have in gym today, by the way."

"I'm sorry, but that wasn't my fault. It was that other trainer!" Lyra looked flustered, which made Cassius laugh loudly.

* * *

Proton was about to go help that grunt when Cassius decided to stroll his cocky self into their business. He hated the Aquas. So. Much. They all thought they were the shit, but, they weren't. Of course, the grunt ran away the second Cassius called out a pokemon, worthless grunt. They all were. He gripped the strap of his bookbag when he saw Cassius talking with Lyra. He was just trying to get on her good side so he could cheat his way through the gang games.

Not that it was below Proton to do the same, but, he wasn't planning on doing that to Lyra. He actually sort of liked her, maybe? He wasn't sure. He just couldn't be forcibly mean to her. He could be rude, short, and sarcastic, but never straight up cruel or mean to her like he was to everyone else.

'Maybe it's the hat?' He thought as he stomped up the hallway towards the lunchroom. She did have a big white hat that she wore most days, maybe he was nice to her because of the hat?

It didn't matter anyway; he had other things to think about. Like, why didn't he get his mom to pack his lunch today? Whatever they were serving in the lunchroom looked like it was still alive, so he skipped getting lunch and sat down next to Petrel, who was still drowsy from the sleeping powder in gym class. Archer gave him an apple, which he mumbled a "thanks" and bit into it, his stomach growling. He glared at Cassius, who caught his glare and smiled back before he turned to Lyra and told her something that made her laugh. She waved goodbye to him and Gabi before venturing to her own table, where Ethan sat with a few of their other friends. The Plasma table was on the left of her table, the aqua on the right. His own table was across from hers, and had the middle aisle where the trash cans and recycling bins were separating them. Behind him was the Magma table and in front of him was the Galactic table.

He hated sitting so…surrounded. Carlos didn't mind it because he could stare at Courtney. Proton minded because he had to look at Saturn's weirdass hair. Either that or Carlos' idiotic face when he winked at random girls.

"You seem angrier than usual today." Carlos commented, taking a bite of a sandwich that he got from the lunchline with money he probably stole from a freshmen, just like his brother had done when he was a rocket years ago. "Ooh~ you seem jealous. What pretty chica has caught your eye?"

"No 'chica' has caught my eye, Carlos. I'm just pissed that I forgot my lunch at home." He lied, looking Carlos right in the eyes. He learned that doing that when you lied would make the chances of being calling out for your bullshit slimmer. He didn't need Carlos pressing this issue in front of the others.

"Here, you can have my apple too." Ariana handed him her apple. "Don't forget, we have a meeting today after school."

"I know." He said, tossing the apple Archer gave him into the trash and started on Ariana's apple. "Think we'll get another riddle?"

"No, he said that anything about the games comes from Lyra." Archer glanced at the brunette and sighed. "She's an odd one."

"She had to be if she's doing this." Petrel muttered.

"And putting up with every team…" Ariana added, seeing Touko and Touya get up from their table and speak to her, probably about the riddle they and the Galactics got. They laughed together and Lyra seemed to be enjoying herself. Shelly soon came over to give the answer to the Aquas riddles. Lyra didn't seem as happy with her, but she was polite nonetheless.

Proton watched her and was surprised. She got along with almost everyone in every gang. How the hell did she do that?

"Maybe that's why Giovanni chose her. He knew she could pull it off." Carlos suggested and finished his sandwich.

"Hm, well, we just started. Let's see if she can last." Proton took a big bite of the apple and turned his attention towards Carlos and the others.

* * *

Lyra smiled at Jo when she turned around to get her help on a worksheet in 5th period, breeding class. "Help." Jo groaned and Lyra broke down the lesson for her. "Much better than Professor Elm. He's nice, but too jumpy and talks too fast for me. So, who do you want dirt on?"

"Oh, uh…" Lyra thought, not sure who she should pick first. She wanted to pick Proton, but she didn't want to make it seem like she liked him. "Minuet?"

"Ah, Minuet Night. 18, a senior, lives with her mom and dad, has two little brothers she takes care of most of the time. She's chill, just sarcastic. Not good in science, math, and speeches. Wicked at pokemon battles, reading, and video games. She dislikes Petrel a lot and likes Touya a lot." Jo explained, saying all of this from memory. "Keep an eye on this one. Plasma may seem friendly, but she'll take you down if she has to. She's very devoted to her friends and gang. Has an absol, zangoose, and a deino."

"Oh…how did you..?"

"All up here!" Jo smiled and tapped her head. "Another person you wanna know about?"

"Hm…Gabi?" Lyra asked, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, good one. Gabi Kurashiki, 17, a junior. Both parents died in a bombing attack when she was three, so she lives with her foster parent, Tenmyouji, and another orphan boy named Quark, he's 14. She's serious and the only emotion I really ever see her show is anger, and as you've probably seen, it's towards the Magmas, mostly Nate. She's a toughie, she'll kick your ass. She can…I dunno how to explain it…she can read people. She can tell you what type of person you are after a few minutes watching you. It's so cool. She's a stagiest, so watch out for her in a battle. She's great a math but she's bad at trusting people. I think you two could be great friends though! She has a gardevoir, eevee and milotic. Un sure who she is interested in. I'm working on that now."

"Woah.." Lyra mumbled, taking it all in. She was about to ask about Carlos but Jo held up a finger.

"Two people per lesson." She said. "Plus, my throat is dry. That was a lot of talking."

* * *

**You guys are the nicest reviewers. Each review just makes me so excited and I just want to hug you all but I disliking hugging people so it's an air hug for now. Thank you all so much! If you want any minor changes to your character or you want to give me more info about them, don't be shy! Just shoot me a message! Thanks again!**

**I tried making Proton meaner. I'm taking baby steps. **


	5. Chapter 5: Enter New Tasks

**Proton has siblings in this story and he has a slowpoke. I don't care he is cute with a slowpoke.**

* * *

Jo turned around in her desk quickly, ready for more help from Lyra. "Dude, don't understand this…"

"It's tough, don't worry, I know a simple way to learn it." Lyra told her reassuringly when a girl with red hair up in a tight bun with a white bow holding it in place came into the classroom. She had freckles dusting her cheeks and nose and bright blue eyes. She handed a note to Professor Elm. He introduced himself and pointed towards a desk on the other side of the room. She thanked him and walked over to the desk, her long and flowy top gracefully followed her.

"Class, this is Emilie Miyamoto, please be kind to her, she is new here." Professor Elm said and walked over to her to give her a few papers he had forgotten to give her before.

"New student? Oh, look at that…a Galactic member? They got her fast.." Jo murmured spotting the button that had a 'G' on it, representing the Galactics, that was clipped onto her bookbag. Lyra had noticed that each gang had their own buttons to show people what gang they were in. They were cute. "I'll have to investigate her.."

"I'm sure she's nice." Lyra hoped she was, anyway. "So, can you tell me about Carlos?"

"Yes, you can, after you help me with this lesson. Same as yesterday." Jo told her and Lyra started to explain the lesson. "So, wait, a skitty and wailmer can have an egg together? Whattttt?" Jo asked in disbelief. "This is why this class is confusing. Urg. Tuesdays are rough days for me. Let's skip this lesson." Jo sighed and closed her workbook, not feeling like learning this interesting lesson.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, let me tell you about Carlos Del Grove. He's 18, but a junior. He started late I believe. Anyway, tall, slightly tan, and handsome, plus, a total ladies man, as you probably already know. He flirts with every girl, but he's polite to them. He constantly asks girls out, but he never expects them to say yes, and they usually don't because they know that he's just messing with them. He's pretty carefree but if he loses a battle, he gets upset, especially if he and his pokemon gave it their all. He lives with his brother, Juan. He was also a Rocket when he went to school here. He is not good at swimming, it's funny watching him try to swim though. He has a crush on Courtney, the Magma one. He's such a dork about it too, it's cute. Like, sometimes, he'll leave her a rose or something. It's so weird because then he just ignores all the girls and totally doesn't act anything like himself. Freaks us all out. He has a Rhyperior, called Rhyberto, Charizard called Charberto, and then a Swampert called Swamberto. Weird. I know." Jo explained, taking a sip from her water bottle after she was done.

"Wow….." Lyra was still amazed that she knew all of that information.

"And I know you're just dying to know about Proton!" Jo smirked and Lyra blushed, shaking her head. "Ah, give it up. You find him attractive. He's 18, a senior, and like he has probably already told you, he is one of the cruelest members of the Rockets. He has calmed it down this year, probably because Giovanni told him too, but he would get in fights all the time last year and whoever he fought against usually lost some teeth. Plus, he was rolling in dough he stole from freshmen. I know he lives with his mom and dad, and has an older brother, and I think a younger sister. The brother is…hm..Alex, and the sister is…Gemma. Yeah, that's their names. He has a golbat, a slowpoke, and a weezing." Jo told her. "I had to dig deep for some of that info, but I did it for you. I'll keep digging."

"Thank you.." Lyra smiled, happy to know just a little more information about the boy.

"Anyone else? We still have 30 minutes in this class."

"I thought you said two a day?"

"I say a lot of things. Let's just get this over with." She said with a shrug.

"Okay..Cassius." Lyra said, remembering how nice the boy was to her yesterday.

"He's a cutie." Jo said with a smirk. "Okay, Cassius Rushton. 17, a junior, actually a very nice dude. He jokes a lot and might flirt a little, but I don't think he means to. He really only does it to Natalie to push her buttons. He loves making her mad. He can turn though, so you have to watch out for him. I've never heard of him beating someone up, so no need to be scared of him. His parents do marine research, so he lives with his grandpa while they are busy with work. He's a waterboy. He's a great swimmer, surfer, wake boarder, anything that has to do with water, he can do. He has a sneasel, Umbreon, and a skitty. I think he has a Gyarados, but he doesn't bring it to school since he can't use it without needed a big pool of water. I don't know why he has a skitty. Actually, I don't think he even knows why he has a skitty…" Jo trailed off. "It's cute though, girls love it, Cassius just get embarrassed by it. It breaks out of it's pokeball all the time."

"I wanna see his skitty." Lyra pouted, wishing she could see the adorable skitty.

"Next is Natalie Chem, because you can't have Cassias without Nate, I don't know why, they just, click together. She's 17 and a junior. She's nice, but she's gotta warm up to you. She has a tendency to get really angry and throw rationality out the window, but she also get's logical and practical when she's not blowing smoke out of her ears. She's a bit of a smartass and can be slightly dramatic, but that's usually only with Tabitha. Her parents divorced when she was 12. She spends a week with her mother and a week with her father, who was a magma member when he was in highschool, her mother, hates the magmas. She is a history nerd and can probably tell you everything about almost any legendary pokemon while doing your hair and makeup perfectly. You can tell her mother and father made impressions on her. She can't swim worth a crap though, she kind of just sinks…I know she has a crush on Tabitha. She's liked him since she was a freshman. She has an espeon, Arcanine, and a misdreavus that doesn't listen to her. That's it for her."

"Okay, not so bad." Lyra nodded her head. "I can handle all of these guys.."

"Yeah, for the games, right?" Jo asked. Lyra looked surprised, but then shook it off. Of course Jo would know everything about anything that has to do with the gangs. "You shouldn't be surprised that I know. I have sources."

"Who?"

"Gotta protect my sources, or they won't tell me anything." Jo shrugged and smiled at her.

* * *

Lyra blew her bangs out of her face as she waited in the front of the school. It was 3:30. School got out at 2:45. Her mother obviously forgot to pick her up.

"You need a ride?" A male voice beside her asked. Lyra turned, hoping it would be Proton, but it was just Brodie. "Sorry, I'm not Proton. I could dress up as him and act like him if you'd like me to."

"No thank you, but yes, I do need a ride, thanks." Lyra said, embarrassed. Did everyone know she had a tiny tiny crush on Proton?

"No problem~!" Brodie smiled and tossed out a pokeball and a salamance appeared. He helped Lyra on and climbed on himself. "Just tell me which way to go."

"Uh, this way." She pointed down the road and salamance took off into the sky. She was a little terrified.

"So, how's being the judge coming along? No one has threatened you yet, have they?" Brodie shouted over the wind. Lyra held onto her hat and shook her head. "Good. I was worried you'd be picked on for it, but I'm glad to see you aren't. I think everyone likes you. I can see why the bosses chose you. Anyway, has everyone told you their answers to their riddles?"

"Yes! I'm just waiting on the next set of orders." Lyra shouted back, relaxing a bit. "Left here, please." She told the salamance, who turned left.

"Oh, hope it's fun. Riddles are a kick, but I want to do something different."

"Well, Giovanni and the others told me you guys will be receiving tasks. I don't think they'll be hard tasks…"

* * *

"Trust falls?" Lyra asked herself, staring at the email Giovanni had sent her later that night. "Trust falls? Really?" They all agreed that everyone should stay after school tomorrow and practice trust falls with everyone. "That won't work.." She could already see them drop each other and laugh about it and then get into fights. Oh god, what if Gabi and Nate were paired up?

This was not good.

"_Clear your schedules everyone! Guess what the bosses said we have to do tomorrow? You'll never guess, so let me tell you now: Trust Fall practices. Don't shoot the messenger." _She sent a mass text to everyone, even Emilie, whose number she got from Mars.

"_I have to babysit tomorrow!" _Nate replied.

"_Dude, I have tests to study for!" _Carlos texted right after Nate.

"_I don't want to do this." _Minuet said and Lyra could picture the girl with her face in her pillow to suppress her scream.

"_Bring the kid."_

"_Study tonight."_

"_I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS EITHER BUT WE HAVE TO." _

Lyra threw her phone across the room after she replied. It kept vibrating and she knew that angry texts were waiting for her.

"_I have horrible trusts issues." _Gabi texted. _"I'M SICK. *COUGH COUGH* I CAN'T DO IT."_

"_IF I HAVE TO DO IT SO DO YOU." _Lyra replied back quickly, calling the girl on her bluff.

Lyra didn't want to do this. She figured everyone would catch her if she had to do it. They wouldn't drop the judge, but, still. Images of them all failing to catch each other and getting pissed at each other were running through her mind and she didn't want more trouble for them all.

"_Well, this will be fun…" _Proton texted. Lyra could tell every word was dripping with venom. However, it didn't scare her as much as it normally would.

* * *

**Sorry that this chapter is like, 500 words shorter than the previous ones. Today is the last day of my spring break and I spent it working on this ****and playing Harvest Moon: A New Beginning.**

**I'M SO GLAD SOME OF YOU AIR HUGGED ME BACK I WAS SERIOUSLY FEELING REJECTED.**

**MY FEELS GUYS. **

**Have a great Monday! **


	6. Chapter 6: Enter Trust Falls & New Faces

Lyra, after a lot of thought, decided to let the teachers know that doing trust falls within their _OWN_ gang would turn out better. Making each other fall back into the arms of an enemy gang member was not bright. She backed that theory up with using Nate and Gabi as an example.

They agreed with her.

So that relieved some of the bad feeling.

Some.

Still, she was nervous as she waited for the gangs to show up after school. She knew more than likely they would be late, and, most were. They were supposed to start at 3:20, but it wasn't until 3:35 that everyone showed up. Nate used the excuse that she had to pick up her little cousin, N said he had to retake a test, and everyone else who were late just shrugged.

None of them look happy. She wasn't very surprised by that. As she explained that they would only be doing trust falls with their own teams, they didn't look so against the idea.

"So, how do we do this?" Minuet asked after Lyra was done speaking.

"Uh, well.." Lyra thought for a moment before coming up with an idea. "Okay, well, Proton will catch Petrel. Then, Petrel will catch Carlos, who will catch Archer, who will catch Ariana, who will then catch Proton. After that cycle is done, you reverse it. So, Proton will catch Ariana, who will catch Archer and so on." Lyra explained. "Once that cycle is done, either start another one, or figure out another way to do it so that everyone catches and is caught by everyone."

"So, I guess you guys can start." Lyra announced. They all looked at each other, still a little confused.

"How do we stand when we fall back and how do we catch?" Gabi asked. "There's tons of ways of doing it…"

"Oh, duh!" Lyra said, not believing she forgot to explain it. "Okay, you stand with your back facing them, and hold out your arms like this." She lifted her arms so that they were extended outwards, almost like a star like position. "But keep your feet together. Then, the person stands behind you and you fall back into them. They catch you by putting their arms under yours, short of like hooks maybe?" She questioned, unsure if they were following her.

"Can you show us?" Emilie asked, not following her very well.

"Sure.." Lyra looked at them. "But I need someone to catch me.." She trailed off. Proton was already standing, so he sighed and walked over to her. "Thanks!" She told him and then faced her back to him. "Okay, so lift your arms." She extended her arms again and looked at them. "Now, when you fall back, the person just hooks their arms under yours around the arm pit area. You might have to fall back on their chest some." She looked behind her to make sure Proton was ready. He nodded and she took a deep breath, nervous. Of course, he wasn't going to let her fall, was he?

She knew everyone was looking at her, so she just leaned back and felt herself fall backwards. Proton's arms hooked underneath her arms and she felt the back of her head touch his chest. She looked up at him, probably with a very red face, but then gave him a small smile. He lifted her back into her standing position and she faced them. "Well, that's it." It was silent for a few moments and Lyra felt very awkward. "Okay! Rockets, go do your trust falls! Aquas, Gabi you catch Shelly, Shelly you catch Cassius, Cassius you catch Gabi and then reverse it. Go!" She ordered.

She then turned to the others. "Magmas, Tabitha catch Courtney, Courtney catch Brodie, Brodie catch Nate, Nate catch Tabitha and reverse it!" Lyra told them. Carlos glared at Tabitha from his group and Nate gave Lyra an annoyed look. Lyra looked back at both of them and they looked away, turning their attention to their group.

"Galactics, Emilie catch Mars, Mars catch Saturn, Saturn catch Jupiter, Jupiter catch Emilie and reverse." They all nodded their heads and started. "Plasmas, N catch Touko, Touko catch Touya, Touya catch Minuet, Minuet catch N then reverse!" Lyra said finally, pleased with the commanding tone she had in her voice.

"Haha! Having fun?" A male voice said and was followed by a laugh. Lyra turned to see a boy with a bright red afro. He was peaking over the stone face that boxed in the training area.

"Arcanine, go get him boy!" Nate hollered. The large dog pokemon stopped played with her little cousin, Daniel, and ran full speed towards the fence.

"AH!" The guy yelled, falling back as Arcanine stopped right at the fence. "You jerk!" He whined, peaking back over. He scratched the pokemon's ear before it trotted back over to the young boy.

"Don't be a baby. Go bother someone else." Nate said, crossing her arms. "Like Volkner or something."

"Too late for that." A very monotone voice said, Lyra guessed the owner of the voice was on the other side of the fence. "Sorry about him." Suddenly, the red headed boy was pulled down. There were muffled yells, but they disappeared after a few seconds.

"Annoying.." Saturn muttered, rolling his eyes as he caught Jupiter.

"They all are." Jupiter agreed. Lyra was a little lost, but she ignored it and looked towards the Rockets, where Petrel barely caught Carlos, but she didn't notice that much. She just noticed that Proton was staring at her. She felt a weird feeling in her stomach again and looked away to the Aquas.

"It'll be fine.." Cassius told Gabi as she stood in front of him. "I promise, I won't drop you."

"I know…" She mumbled, but was still hesitate to fall back.

"I got you, don't worry." He said in a very soothing voice. "When have I ever let you down?"

"Never.." Gabi took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay.." She said and finally fell back. Cassius caught her instantly, barely giving her time to fall back.

"See?" Cassius smiled at her and helped her onto her feet.

"I swear to Groudon, you better not drop me!" Nate turned to look at Brodie as he stood behind her. She looked just as nervous as Gabi had, but Lyra would too if she had to fall back into Brodie. She would've fallen right into Cassius the second he gave her one of his smiles. "I'm serious!"

"I won't, don't you trust me?"

"No." Tabitha said for her. He had his arms crossed and was watching Brodie closely. Brodie rolled his eyes at him.

"Come on Nate, I won't let you hit the ground." Brodie said and Nate groaned, but fell back. Brodie took his sweet time doing it, much like Petrel had with Carlos, and caught her last minute. Her face had a scared expression and she gripped onto his arms like she was clinging on for dear life.

Lyra turned her attention towards the Galactics and saw Mars catch Saturn easily, but then she flinched and pretended like she was going to drop him. He shouted at her and she began to laugh. Emilie laughed along with her and Jupiter chuckled while Saturn glared at them, his face red with embarrassment.

She moved her eyes to the Plasmas, where Minuet was being caught by Touya. She looked extremely happy and Lyra felt very proud of herself for setting it up to Minuet's advantage. She knew she had made Nate mad that she had to fall back into Brodie's arms and she knew she made Carlos mad when she said that Tabitha would be catching Courtney, but they could deal.

The gangs started to reverse the cycle and it actually seemed to be going okay. They were catching each other - even though sometimes it was a last second catch - and they weren't arguing with each other. She knew that she was working to make all the gangs get along, but making them get along better with each other was important too.

"Nattttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeee!" Daniel whined. He was clinging onto Nate's left leg and looking up at her. His messy brown hair spiked up and he had green eyes, just like Nate. Lyra figured he was in 1st grade, maybe 5 or 6 years old. Lyra wasn't the greatest with be able to tell kids' ages.

"Yesssssssss?" She asked in the same voice. A few people who weren't in the middle of doing trust falls watched the two. "What do you need?"

"Hungryyy!"

"Okay okay, relax. Let's go get you a snack.." She grabbed his hand and walked towards her bag. Lyra smiled as Nate kneeled down to pull a juice box and a snack out of her bag, but her attention was drawn back to the groups when she heard a groan.

Tabitha was on the ground, and Lyra assumed that he hit the ground because Brodie got 'distracted' and didn't catch him. Brodie laughed but was on the ground in seconds as Tabitha slammed his legs into Brodie's ankles

"Get off the ground." Courtney crossed her arms and blew a bubble with her bubblegum. Tabitha and Brodie glared at each other but got up, shaking the dirt off of them. "Better quit." She told them once the bubble popped. Cassius and Carlos were chuckling at them and Nate gave them a weird look.

"What are you two chuckling about?" She asked, apparently not aware of Brodie and Tabitha's little incident. They both mumbled a "nothing", laughing a little more. Nate rolled her eyes and looked at Daniel before wiping his mouth with a napkin. "How do you get that stuff all over your face?" She asked, wiping at the grape juice he had somehow gotten on his cheek. "Okay, you good? Go eat your snack with arcanine." She ruffled his hair and he ran off towards the pokemon.

"He's really cute." Lyra told Nate as she approached the group again.

"Yeah, just wish he would speak more than a few words.." Nate sighed as she watched him lie against her pokemon and eat his snack, giving a few to the pokemon.

"My brothers do that too, sometimes." Minuet said. "They're at some after school speech thing now, thank goodness, or they'd be running around here causing trouble.."

"They need to put Daniel is speech help then." Nate folded her arms. "I mean, I used to do that when I was younger too, but not as much as he does."

"I want a little silbling or cousin.." Lyra whined.

"No you don't." Proton said, shaking his head.

"Not when you have to practically raise them." Minuet added.

"Or take them almost everywhere with you and have people think it's your kid." Nate grumbled. "If you want one so badly, you can borrow Daniel."

"You can borrow my brothers." Minuet offered. Lyra shook her head, knowing she couldn't handle taking care of a child. She acted like too much of a child have of the time anyway, no way she could take care of one!

"Nevermind.." She said after a few seconds.

* * *

Lyra waved Jo over at lunch, offering the girl the seat next to her. She accepted it happily and plopped down with her tray. "What's up? Tell me how the trust falls went! I know you told Lucia and Sakutaro about them in 3rd. I cannot believe Mr. Cyrus made me go do a retake of a test the one day where there was a super interesting story to listen to."

Lyra remembered how interested Sakutaro and Lucia actually were with the story. She didn't think it was a good story, she probably told it horribly, but they thought it was kinda cool. Of course, the interruptions from Nate, Cassius, and Minuet throughout the story helped.

"_I am not falling back onto Brodie ever again! That ass almost dropped me!"_

"_Psh, Shelly 'slipped' out of my grasp. That's what she gets for taking my cookie at lunch the other day."_

"_The trust falls were fun." Minuet argued, only thinking about how she got to fall back onto Touya. _

So, Lyra decided to include their comments into her story, just to make sure Jo wouldn't lose interest in it.

"Okay, wait, so, let me get this straight. You got to fall back onto Proton?"

"Is that seriously the only thing you have to say about the story?" Lyra asked.

"No, I have to tell you who those guys were on the fence, but, the Proton thing was interesting." Jo shrugged.

"We'll talk about that in 5th period." Lyra whispered, not wanting the other people at the table to hear them talk about Proton. "Tell me who those dudes were."

"Ah, fine fine. Let me tell you about all of them, actually." Jo said and looked away from Lyra. "Okay, see that table on the far end of the lunch room?"

"Yes!" Lyra said. "The one Lance is sitting at?" She spotted the red head sitting at the middle of the table with a few other people around him.

"Yup. That is the Kanto and Johto table." Jo told her. "Johto and Kanto are two subdivisions. They are connected by a road that is right in the middle of them, called Mt. Silver road."

"Oh, yeah, I know that. Ethan and I live in the Johto subdivision." Lyra told her.

"Good, so you know it." Jo commented. "Anyway, there's more. It's complicated to explain, but, I'm sure you'll keep up. There are 3 other divisions besides Kanto and Johto. The table beside Kanto and Johto is the Hoenn subdivision, beside them is the Sinnoh division, and beside them is the Unova division. Also, every subdivision has a gang in it.

"And..?" Lyra asked.

"Those students that sit at those tables are kind of different. You see, they only specialize in one type of pokemon. Let me start: For Kanto, you have Brock the rock type user, Misty the water type user, Erika the grass type user, Janine the posion type user, Sabrina the psychic type user and then Blue who uses various types of pokemon, but he's like the head of the Kanto's." She pointed out each person for her. "Okay, now, for the moment, skip Lance and those 2 kids next to him. I'm going to tell you about Johto next."

"Alright.."

"First is Falkner the flying type users, Busgy the bug type user, Whitney the normal type user, Morty the super cute ghost type user, Jasmine the steel type user and finally Clair, Lance's cousin and a dragon type user, like Lance himself." Jo explained and smiled at Morty. "Lance and those two beside him, Will and Karen, like Lance, live on Mt. Silver road, the road that connects the two subdivisions. They are also on the student council for the seniors. Lance is president, Karen is vice president, and Will is the secretary. They are sort of like the leaders of the table. They hate the Rockets, who are Kanto and Johto's gang. All members live there.

"Oh…" Lyra mumbled, taking it all in. Still, Volkner and the red headed boy weren't at that table.

"Next, is Hoenn, which is where the Magmas and Aquas live. First you have the rock type user Roxanne, the fighting type user Brawly, the fire type user Flannery, the flying type user Wionna, the twins Tate and Liza who are psychic type users and Wallace the water type user. In the middle of that table is Sidney the dark type user, yes he's a boy, Phoebe the ghost type user, Glacia the ice type user and finally, the head of the Hoenn table is Steven Stone, the steel type user."

"Goodness…"

"Wait, there's more. The Sinnoh subdivision is next! This is where Galactics reside and also those guys you saw yesterday. First off we have Roark the rock type user, Gardenia the grass type user, Maylene the fighting type user, Candice the ice type user, and then Volkner the electric type user. In the middle of the table is Aaron the bug type user and Flint the fire type user. The head of the table is Cynthia, who uses many different types, like Blue."

"They look like a lot of fun."

"Oh, they're my favorites, except for Johto, of course. Next is Unova, where Plasmas reside. First you have Cheren the normal type user, Roxie the poison type user, Skyla the flying type user and Marlon the water type user. In the middle you have Shauntal the ghost type user, Marshal the fighting type user, Grimsley the dark type user, Caitlin the psychic type user and the head of the table, Iris, who uses dragon types." Jo took a much needed breath and long drink from her water bottle.

"So, they don't get along with the gang or gangs that are in their neighborhood?" Lyra asked, now realizing why Saturn and Jupiter said Volker and Flint were annoying.

"Yup. They'll be fine with other gangs though. Like, Volkner and Flint for example, they're friends with Nate, even though she's a Magma.." Jo nodded her head. "It's kinda weird, I know.."

"You know, I always get a headache after talking with you…" Lyra muttered. "Good kind of headache, but a headache none the less…."

"Good!" Jo smiled. Lyra sipped her drink and felt eyes on her. She glanced up to see Proton, sitting at his table, looking at her. It was only for a few seconds and maybe he was just looking passed her? She knew she looked passed people all the time, or just stared at them without realizing she was doing it, but it still made her cheeks turn a little red.

"You saw that Proton was looking at you, didn't you?" Jo asked, trying to hold back a smile.

"….No…"

"LIAR."

"You know, Morty is very cute." Lyra said, trying to change the subject. "Is he looking over here?"

"Don't try to pull one on me." Jo said, but glanced up anyway. He was looking at them. Jo looked down instantly and stared at her tray.

"Is…is she okay?" Sakutaro asked as he and Lucia joined them at lunch. They usually did a few days a week. The other days they would sit with their other group of friends.

"Did she eat something hot?" Lucia asked, looking at Jo's red face.

"Nah, she just saw something hot." Lyra laughed and was elbowed by Jo.

"Least I'm not into a gang member." She grumbled and Lyra elbowed her.

"See? This is why we don't sit with you guys every day." Sakutaro rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway.

* * *

**So I decided to bring in gym leaders. I didn't use all of them because some of them were adults and too old for highschool. I know most of them are, but the younger ones, Like Volkner and Clair, I decided to keep. The people that are in the middle of each table are of course, Elite Four members and the champion of the region. **

**And sorry that I didn't update so quickly. It took me forever to start this chapter! Things might slow down some because I really gotta focus in on school (I only have a month left!) , but I won't take more than two weeks to update. I'll try to do one once a week. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you soooo much for reviewing, following, and favoriting this story! It really means a lot to me! **


	7. Chapter 7: Enter A Chaotic Mess

Lyra groaned, her feet already hurt. She was walking to school with Sakutaro today. Why? Well, they had a project to work on and luckily Ethan's mom was nice enough to drop her off at his house earlier that morning so they could work on their project a little. They got a lot done in the small amount of time they had, but they had miss the bus and his parents couldn't take him. They still had thirty minutes to get to school, so they hit the road.

"I'm really glad this town has a lot of sidewalks.." Lyra commented, thinking back to her old town, that barely had any places you could walk to. This town was much different. You could walk almost anywhere. Yes, it took you some time to do so, but it was nice. Thinking back to her old town made her remember her old friends. She really should text or call them when she had some time.

"Yeah, the school isn't too far away…maybe another 10 or 15 minutes." Sakutaro tried to sound positive, but, he really didn't want a workout like this first thing in the morning. A car pulled up beside them as the light turned red.

"Lyra!" A male voice cheered and the two looked over to see Cassius. He was sitting in a light blue car, windows down and his music on a low murmur. "Do you guys need a ride?"

"Yes!" Lyra almost shouted. He motioned towards the backseat with his head and she opened the door and slid in, almost bumping into a grumpy Nate. She had earbuds in her ears and gave a sidewards look towards the two as they shut the door and fastened their seatbelts. She looked back out the window after saying "Good Morning"

"Good Morning." Gabi said with a blank expression. She was in the front seat and now Lyra understood why Nate was grumpy. "Don't mind her; she's mad that she's in trouble." Gabi rolled her eyes, but Lyra swore she saw a glint of happiness in Gabi's eyes. Happiness most likely brought on by Nate's misfortune.

"Thank you for the ride." Sakutaro said as the light turned green and they sped off.

"No probs. Couldn't let you guys be late to school!" Cassius looked at the rearview mirror and flashed a smile. Sakutaro pulled on the sleeve of his purple jacket, tugging it up some as he got a little hotter, probably from being stuck in the back right next to Lyra, who was enjoying the colder air from Gabi and Cassius' open windows. "So, what happened anyway? Don't you ride with Ethan?"

"Yeah…. Sakutaro and I wanted to work on that extra credit project for Mr. Cyrus' class. We missed the bus though.." Lyra explained. Gabi cracked a very tiny smile while Cassius laughed.

"Have you started yours?" Sakutaro asked, starting up a conversation between him and Cassius. Lyra started to tune it out as Nate took an earbud from her right ear and handed it to Lyra. The music coming from it seemed like something Lyra would like, so she accepted it and put it to her ear. The music was much better than hearing about more school projects and she thanked Nate for it as they pulled into Cassius' parking spot in the student parking lot.

"See you later, thanks for the ride." Nate opened her door and slid out quickly. She left it open for Lyra and jogged off. Courtney waved her over and the two walked into the school before Lyra could even get her bag out of the car.

"What happened to her?" Lyra asked, confused.

"She got in trouble for sneaking out." Gabi said and shut her door. "Thank you for the ride Cassius, I'll see you in gym class. Bye Lyra, bye Sakutaro, it was nice meeting you." Gabi said, and it sounded extremely forced. Like she was trying too hard. She left them and joined Shelly, who was waiting for her.

"What happened to her?" Lyra asked, even more confused.

"She's working on her social skills." Cassius shrugged and locked his car. "Nate wasn't sneaking out, she just stayed out too late last night and her mother blamed Tabitha for it so she can't ride with him the rest of the week. Which of course, sparked an argument between the two. Her mom hates Tabitha." Cassius rolled his eyes. "And so I gave her a ride, but she and Gabi don't get along, because every higher being hates me, so I have to suffer the rest of the week for it and sit in a car with them."

"Ah.." Sakutaro muttered.

"If they got along, it would be better."

"But different gangs don't really get along." Sakutaro said.

"Nate and I get along great!" Cassius smiled and held open the door that opened into one of the hallways for them. "Whether she likes it or not, we're best friends." He laughed again and said goodbye, disappearing into the crowd.

"He has really cool hair.." Sakutaro said after a few moments. "The brown down the middle looks so perfect, how does he do that? And it's like, perfectly messy.."

"I don't know how half the people here have the hair they have…" Lyra grumbled as Mars and Saturn walked by.

"Good point…" Sakutaro mumbled and stood by her locker as she went through it. "But his hair gives him that surfer look and complete overall nice guy look, you know? But, not super nice guy. Their hair just give them this extraterrestrial look…" He whispered the last part, seeing as Mars and Saturn were still close.

"But they're nice." Lyra told him and shoved a binder into her bag. "Yes, Cassius somehow seems like he rolls out of bed each morning and has perfect hair."

"Carlos does it too.." Sakutaro said after a few moments.

"Okay, going to class now." Lyra didn't want to hear this anymore. Talking about how cute these guys were was too weird for her. She was supposed to be befriending them. Not talking about how attractive they were.

Not saying that they weren't attractive, they were, but, thinking in them that way would just be too weird! She ran right into someone as she faded in and out of her thoughts.

"Oh I'm really sorry about that, are you okay?" She asked

"No problem!" Flint cheered and didn't look mad at all. "Eh, you're Lyra right? I'm Flint, nice to meet you!" He shook her hand as the warning bell rang, meaning they had two minutes to get to class.

"Flint, let's go!" Volkner pushed the redhead's back. "We have a test." He reminded him.

"Crap! Ah, well, see you later Lyra!" Flint waved goodbye as Volkner continued to walk away. Lyra waved goodbye and headed towards her class, wondering how Flint even knew who she was.

* * *

Lyra sat back against a large tree that was in the courtyard. Fritz sat in front of her as Lyra brushed the sheep pokemon.

"Don't be too rough." Courtney told her, brushing her ninetails gently. Many people were sitting around in circles, grooming their pokemon. "Training them for battle is important, but grooming them is just as important." Courtney said when Lyra asked why they were spending today grooming their pokemon.

"I'm glad it's so nice out." Lyra softened her brush strokes as a breeze blew. It was now March, and it was surprisingly warm out.

"Spring usually comes early here." Nate said, brushing her espeon, who stretched out happily. Its coat was shiny and looked like it was brushed every day.

"That's great!" Lyra smiled. "Are you feeling better? I know you weren't too happy this morning."

"I'm fine. My mom just made me mad. I was only 10 minutes past curfew." Nate blew a piece of stray hair out of her face.

"It's only because Tabitha was driving. If one of us were driving, she would have been fine with it." Courtney reminded Nate.

"And because Gabi was in the car this morning, I was in a bad mood." Nate reminded Courtney, while she glanced over at the Aqua group. "Urg. She hates me. So. Much. I can feel it from here. I don't really care, but it made the car ride so awkward."

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning." Courtney offered and Nate gladly accepted it, not wanting another horrible car ride with the two Aquas.

"Why does she hate you so much? I know you guys are in different gangs, but, Cassius doesn't hate you and neither does Carlos or Minuet or Emilie." Lyra thought about it. Yes, the gangs disliked each other, but none really showed too much hatred for each other. Not hate like Gabi showed Nate.

"She hates Magmas." Nate told Lyra and her espeon yawned. "Maybe she hates me because I hate Shelly so much?"

"You do?" Lyra never noticed it before.

"You can only tell when Shelly and Tabitha are around." Courtney told Lyra.

"Why the hell does she have to flirt with him so much?!" Nate growled, gripping the brush in her hand tightly. "He obviously doesn't like her so why doesn't she just give up!?"

"She gets like that.." Courtney whispered to Lyra. "She just gets a little upset by it. She has a tiny crush on Tabitha."

"I can tell." Lyra muttered, scooting a little closer to Courtney and away from Nate. "What do we do?"

"She'll cool down in a few minutes."

They sat in silence, all brushing their pokemon until Lyra felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

'_Is Nate mad? I can see the smoke coming out of her ears from here!' _Lyra looked at Carlos, who was a few yards away from them. He smiled and laughed, then returned his attention back to his pokemon.

'_Did Carlos tell you a joke about my hair?' _Her phone vibrated again, this time it was from Cassius, who was suspiciously looking at Carlos. Lyra shook her head and nodded it towards Nate. He made an "Oh!" face and turned back to his umbreon. _'He always makes jokes about it.'_ Cassius texted her again. Gabi turned and looked at Lyra. She didn't know what to do, so she just waved to Gabi, who returned it with a smaller wave before turning back to her group with her eevee in her lap.

"Do you know which team is winning these gang games?" Courtney asked as she finished brushing her ninetails.

"Actually…it's pretty tied…" Lyra didn't really know. She wasn't exactly keeping score. "I just know you guys are getting another task possibly tomorrow."

"Urg. Great." Minuet muttered. She and Mars, being as they were the only members on their gang in this class, decided to sit together and since they got along with Courtney, sat close to them. "Don't get me wrong, I loved falling back onto Touya, but, I'm not into the teamwork and friendship building things."

"I swear to groudon if I have to catch Shelly I will drop her." Nate said seriously, still not cooled down.

"It won't be trust falls, don't worry." Lyra rolled her eyes and checked her phone again. She decided now would be the perfect time to text one of her old friends, so she did. She hadn't mean to get so caught up with her new school and leave all her old friends in the dust, but it was hard not to. She knew that she was moving halfway through her junior year and had prepared herself, but, her friends had not and were more than upset when she left. She knew they'd be mad that she took a month to send them a message, but, they would have to get over it.

"Eh!" Nate looked startled when Lyra looked up from her phone. Espeon was running after Umbreon. "Get back here Espeon!"

"Umbreon!" Cassius yelled. The two blondes ran after their pokemon, who were chasing each other.

"Nikia!" Gabi shouted, her eevee joining the chase. "Stop it!"

"Espeon!"

"Umbreon, give me a break!"

"Nikia, when did you get so fast?"

"Eevees and their evolutions are so cute." Minuet joked and watched the three blondes run after their pokemon. "Espeon and Umbreon always do that."

"They do?"

"Yeah, they fight a lot too. Like trainer like pokemon, you know?" She questioned and then went back to her absol, who was watching the pokemon with a bored expression. Lyra watched them run around, smiling as they did so.

Getting them to all be friends was going to be a lot of work, and trying to understand them was going to be difficult, but she had to do it. She knew she had to do it. Besides, having them all as friends would be nice, and once she added them all on Poke'Book, the current social networking site, she would look so popular to her old friends.

Of course…they were all gang members and bullies and could make any freshman cry, but, that was fine.

Mars laughed as Nate tried to recall espeon back into her pokeball, but failed horribly.

"Misdreavous!" Nate shouted as the pokemon came out of its pokeball. She halted and looked at her espeon, who was still chasing umbreon, and back towards her misdreavous, who was no doubt about to cause trouble. "Get back in your ball!" The pokemon shook its head and disappeared.

"Skitty!" Cassius growled as the pokemon escaped from its pokeball. He sighed and grabbed the pink pokemon before it could escape any further. He returned it to its pokeball and chased after his umbreon with Gabi right behind him.

"Misdreavous." A voice said above Lyra. The pokemon floated around with Lyra's hat on its head.

"That's mine!" Lyra stood up, pointing at misdreavous. "C'mon, give it back!"

"Having trouble controlling your pokemon?" Carlos asked Nate as he walked up beside her. She gave him a flustered look and shook her head, ready to punch him. He laughed at her until umbreon ran straight into his swampert. The pokemon looked annoyed and tried to grab umbreon, but he took off with espeon and eevee right behind him. Swampert shot beams of water at umbreon, knowing he couldn't keep up with him if he tried to run.

"Swamberto!" Carlos frowned at his pokemon, but it didn't listen.

"Having trouble controlling _your _pokemon?" Nate asked, smirking at Carlos.

"Thank you for being a good boy, Alto.." Minuet pet her absol's head as chaos continued around them.

Lyra tried to jump for her hat, but failed horribly. Misdreavous floated all around her, taunting her. Umbreon dodged all of the water attacks easily, with espeon and eevee close behind him.

"This is ridiculous!" Ariana shouted.

"Arcanine! Stop them!" Nate shouted, calling out her last pokemon. It immediately blocked umbreon's path and the three pokemon crashed into his legs. Cassius grabbed umbreon and Gabi grabbed her eevee, both trainers scolding their pokemon for causing trouble. With umbreon in Cassius' arms, swampert relaxed and stopped shooting water. Arcanine picked espeon up by the back of her neck with his mouth, much like a mother pokemon would do with its children, and trotted back over to Nate.

"Please give me my hat back!" Lyra whined, now drawing attention to herself. The misdreavous floated back down to her level and set the hat back on the girl's head. "Thank you.." The misdreavous cheered and floated around her head quickly.

"Out of all the pokemon, misdreavous is the one to actually listen.." Nate grumbled, holding espeon in one arm. "Except for you, sweetie." She cooed to Arcanine, who wagged his tail happily.

"Well.." Lyra muttered, looking at the exasperated look that was on everyone's face. "That was a good bonding experience…"

"Misdreavous!" The pokemon cheered.

"Get back in your damn pokeball!" Nate stomped her foot, glaring at the pokemon. It imitated her face before continuing what it was doing before. It landed on Lyra's hat and smiled at the girl.

"What do I do?" Lyra asked, looking up at the pokemon.

"Hell if I know.." Nate returned espeon to her pokeball and put her head on arcanine's back. "I'm 900% done with this week and next week."

"Is that even possible?" Carlos asked and Nate looked up and glared at him.

"It is now. There's about to be a 900% chance that I'm going to punch you in the face. Want to make it 1000%?"

"So…what was that about this being a good bonding experience?" Minuet asked as Carlos and Nate stared at each other, neither wanting to break eye contact.

"I don't know…" Lyra whined, sitting back down, misdreavous still on her head. "I can't make a positive outlook on this situation. Everything just went to hell and back.."

"That's how it usually is around here." Gabi told her. "Usually though, we can control our pokemon.."

"You two better next time!" Shelly said, ready to lecture Gabi and Cassius about how they embarrassed her in front of the other gangs.

"Tabitha is going to bite your ear off Nate.." Courtney called out to the blonde, who broke eye contact with Carlos to give Courtney a worried look.

"You'd enjoy him biting any part of you, wouldn't you?" Carlos whispered, grinning at Nate.

"THAT'S IT! I'M AT A 1000%!" She shouted, turning back to him.

"Carlos! Archer is so going to fry you!" Ariana warned him, not wanting a fight to break out.

"See? Our gang leaders don't have to worry about us…" Minuet said to Mars.

"I honestly worry about all of you.." Lyra muttered, wondering how the hell she was ever going to make them all get along.

'_Lyra! Took you forever to text me! How is the new school? Are you making new friends?'_ Her friend, Dawn, texted her, replying to Lyra's early text message.

'_What the hell just happened in gym? I heard shouting from my class..'_ Proton texted her. She looked at the two messages, trying to decide who to reply to first.

'_Hell just broke loose and now Shelly is yelling, Nate and Carlos are bickering, and Minuet and Mars are laughing. The usual I suppose.' _She replied, after looking at the scene before her. _'Other than that, we're all peachy.' _She hit the send button before replying to Dawn's text. She sat back against the tree and closed her eyes, waiting for his reply. And Dawn's, of course.

* * *

** Sorry for the lack of Proton, but I'm trying to work on the development of the other characters too. The next chapter will definitely have more Proton in it! Anyway, Dawn and May will be Lyra's friends, but they'll be the anime version, not the manga or video game versions, so, they'll be more, girly I suppose? **

**Sorry if this chapter isn't super interesting. It's not a filler, it's important, but, just not super interesting. **

**And sorry it took me so long to post! I'm in yearbook committee at my highschool and we're handing out yearbooks tomorrow, so this whole week has been chaotic. **


	8. Chapter 8: Enter Cuteness!

**Okay, yearbooks are handed out, prom is over, and now I just have to pass all my classes. Got this. Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. They seriously mean a lot to me. Thank you.**

* * *

Lyra felt her heart sink as she read the email sent from Giovanni. He was asking far too much of her now, wasn't he?

"How the heck am I going to make this work?" She wondered aloud, sighing. She didn't think they were anywhere ready for this step. It wasn't a lot to ask of them, but, they were still slightly hostile towards each other and especially after the day's earlier events, they were in no mood to deal with one another.

They were in one of the computer labs working on an online test that Lyra finished earlier. Lucia was also done, so she looked over at Lyra confused. "What's wrong? Do you feel that you didn't do well on the test?"

"No, I did okay, just…I have a new task to do with the gangs.."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Just find a good formula!"

"Why are you always looking for a formula?" Lyra asked.

"Because.." Lucia muttered, still shy towards Lyra. "Formulas always help me solves problems."

"But that's only in math and science, not problems like this." Lyra groaned.

"Everything is math and science in a way." Lucia explained. "You just have to look at the problem from every angle, work out all the options, and go with the solution that works best. It's simple."

The bell signaling the end of her 4th period sounded. She closed her email and picked up her things, ready to go to 5th period. "Thanks Lucia. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, good luck." The girl said quietly.

Maybe Jo could help her work a few things out? There was just a lot going on at the moment, and Lyra didn't want to do any of it and there was no why she could find a formula.

"What's up?" Jo asked as Lyra stepped into the classroom and slumped into her seat. "You still bummed about what happened in gym class? It wasn't that bad you know."

"Not that."

"Then what is it?"

"A new task. I got an email during my 4th period about it." Lyra grumbled. "The new task is…I don't know…they're supposed to do nice things for each other then tell me what they did. Of course, I have to ask the person they helped or were nice to if they really did it or not, and then I give them 'points' for it." Lyra explained. "They still think they're going to get a prize at the end or something.."

"Ah, well, they need this sort of stuff! Them fighting is pretty funny, but it's irritating at times." Jo said.

"Yeah, but, I just don't know if this will work, you know? They'll just be nice to each other for points.

"Probably, but, maybe it'll show them that being nice to each other isn't so bad? I've noticed that Minuet and Gabi are getting along a little better in my English class. They actually greet each other now. They used to just stare or glare at each other when either of them sat down in their desk. I know that that's not a huge improvement, but since you've only been here for like, three weeks, that's pretty good."

"Really? I didn't know that.."

"Yeah, and Tabitha and Archer sort of talk to each other when they go to their lockers. You even have the leaders getting along better! See? You're making changes." Jo encouraged her.

"You're right!" Lyra smiled and pushed back all the worries she had about the new task. Everything was going to be just fine! It would all fall into place eventually if it hit a few snags. Professor Elm began to teach, so Jo turned around in her seat to face the front of the class.

Lyra doodled on the worksheet he passed out and was in her own little world until Jo turned around and asked for help. "Lyra? Helllloooooo?"

"What?" Lyra asked, looking up at the blue haired girl.

"Do you understand this?" She pointed at the worksheet and Lyra looked around the classroom, seeing everyone else chatting and working on the worksheet she hadn't even realized she had gotten. "You weren't paying attention, were you?"

"…No."

"Knew it by that flower design you doodled on the side of your paper." Jo glanced down at Lyra's paper and then back up at the girl. She scanned the classroom until her eyes landed on someone. "Emilie. She's good at this stuff! Get her to come over here!"

"What? No way!" Lyra and Jo argued for a few moments before Lyra gave it. "Emilie? Do you understand this?" Lyra called to the other girl. The redhead got up from her seat, worksheet and pencil in hand, and walked over to Lyra's desk.

"I understand, it's simple. Do you need some help?"

"Please!" Jo exclaimed. "I'm Jo, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Jo." Emilie said before she started to explain the worksheet with them. Lyra understood what Emilie was saying and finished her worksheet swiftly. She noticed that professor Elm was busy typing at his computer, so she pulled out her phone to reply to Dawn's text earlier, which was mostly about Dawn and her other friend, May, wanting to come and visit her. She looked at the teacher again before moving her fingers swiftly across her phone to text Dawn. She also sent out a mass text to every gang member, explaining their new task.

None of them were happy about it.

* * *

"So, you want me to be nice to someone of an opposing gang?" Proton asked as she walked out of her 5th period. She jumped, startled by him. Jo saw him and waved by to her, scurrying down the hallway with a smirk on her face.

"Oh, hey." Lyra tried to sound calm. "Yes, those were the instructions I received." She began to walk towards her locker. Proton followed her, staying close to her side despite the crowdness of the hallway. "Are you going to be able to do it?"

"I think the only people able to do that in my group are Petrel and Carlos." Proton admitted. "This is really a pain in the ass. What are we suppose to do?"

"Just…be..nice to them. Like, Emilie helped me in class and explained a worksheet to me. If she did that for you or any member of a gang, not including her own, that would be a nice act." Lyra explained and started to turn the dial on her locker. Once she completed her combination she opened her locker and started to switch out binders and books with the ones that were in her bookbag.

"Being nice to them is nearly impossible for me." Proton growled, leaning against the lockers next to hers.

"Start small. Not like you have to be nice to Saturn or Shelly or anything like that right off the bat. Maybe you should try being nicer to people in your own gang as practice?" Lyra asked. She knew that idea was shot down by the look he was giving her. She shut her locket and adjusted the straps on her bag before continuing to her 6th period.

"Being nice to anyone is nearly impossible for me."

"You're nice to me." Lyra told Proton. He looked ahead and didn't look at her as they walked to her class. "I know that you guys aren't really the most friendliest bunch. I'm not expecting you guys to just get this task over night. It'll take a little while to get the hang of it, and that's fine. I'm not rushing you guys, and there's no time limit on this task."

"Why do we have to do this?" He asked, still frustrated.

"I dunno, I was surprised by it too. I don't come up with the tasks, you know that." Lyra lied a little. She wasn't surprised by it much and she did know why they had to do it, but, he didn't need to know that. "I've gotta do to class. I'll see you later."

"So, if we're nice to you, do we get some points?" Proton asked before Lyra walked into her classroom.

"Uh…" She hadn't thought of that. She wasn't in any of the gangs, so she probably shouldn't grant them any points for being nice to her, but, maybe it would help them practice being nice to other gang members? "Sure, I suppose. Only a few points though."

"Good, let's go." Proton said, putting his hand on her back and pushed her forward, towards the doors to the student parking lot.

"W-Woah! Where are we going?"

"Out. You don't need that class." He smirked, entertained by Lyra's worried expression.

"Yes I do! It's important!"

"Not today it isn't. Out you go." He said as he held the door open for her. She contemplated dodging past him and back to class, but what would be the point? She decided that she would just go with Proton. He led her to his car and she climbed in, putting her back in the back seat while he started the car up.

"Okay. I'm skipping out on 6th period with you, where are we going?" Lyra asked as he drove out of the parking lot.

"My little sister's elementary school. She's in a play and my parents and brother can't get out of work to come and watch it, and I figured you might enjoy it."

"Are you being serious?" She asked, surprised.

"Why would I not be serious?" He looked over at her as they stopped at a red light. "The stupid school decided to have it at the end of a school day instead of doing it in the evening, like they usually do. The only way I'd get there in time to see it was if I skipped 6th period. How many points do I get for this?"

"Uh, 3." Lyra crossed her arms. "I'm coming to see this play with you, so I should be the one getting the nice points."

"You'll love the play. It's a bunch of little kids running around in costume on stage. You'll think it's adorable."

"You don't know what I think is adorable. What if I hate it?"

"Then that would make two of us." Proton told her and turned into the parking lot of the elementary school. It was crowded, much to the annoyance of Proton. Lyra helped him find a spot after a few minutes of circling the parking lot. "I hate this."

"Relax." Lyra told him as she undid her seatbelt and opened up her door. "I didn't skip 6th period to have to hang out with a grumpy Proton."

"I'm not grumpy." Proton furrowed his eyebrows at her and got out of his car. He slammed his door shut and locked the car.

"Yes, you are, and your car door can vouch for it." She said, referring to how hard he slammed it. She followed him across the small parking lot and towards the entrance of the school. A few teachers greeted them, asking what child was theirs. Lyra hoped that they knew that Proton was just her older brother and that she wasn't their child. She was far too young to have a child that was 7, which she later found out was Gemma's age.

"I hope it's not crowded." Proton muttered as they walked down the hallway towards the lunch room, which had a stage and doubled as the auditorium. A few other couples and parents were walking down the hallway, making Lyra feel relieved that they weren't late. Proton held open the door for her and she hurried in, embarrassed.

"Oh…it is.." Lyra muttered, looking all around the lunchroom. Seats were lined up in rows, all facing the front of the room where the stage was. The bright yellow curtain was down, hiding the rest of the stage. There was a large open walkway right through the middle of the chairs, separating them into 2 sides. Most of the seats were taken, but Lyra grabbed onto Proton's sleeve when she saw two available chairs.

"Are these taken?" Lyra asked a girl who was sitting by the two open chairs.

"No, they aren't." Minuet replied, then looked at Lyra, surprised to see her there. She then saw Proton behind Lyra and nodded her head in understanding. "Oh right, Gemma is chikorita, isn't she?" Minuet asked as she looked at the playbill a few students were handing out as people walked into the room.

"Yes." Proton answered and Lyra sat next to Minuet, still confused to see her.

"Oh, one of my brothers is in the play. He's the poliwag." Minuet explained. "I had just gotten your text when I remembered I had to come see this."

"So I gave her a ride." Nate chimed in, leaning forward in her seat. She was on the other side of Minuet. "Daniel is in the play." She explained. "And of course, no one is able to get off work to see him, so here I am."

"Same." Proton and Minuet both said.

"This is a my nice thing, so, write it down or something." Nate said to Lyra.

"Oh, yeah, she did a nice thing." Minuet agreed. "Gave me a ride."

"Well, that's great! Proton here was saying it was too difficult to do nice things for one another." Lyra smiled and looked back at Proton, who was shooting her an annoyed look. She just smiled wider and sat back in her chair happily. "So, what is Daniel?"

"Poochyena. He's been practicing a lot for this." Nate smiled a small smile. "I have to take pictures." She pulled a camera out of her bag.

"Same." Proton and Minuet said, once again, each holding a camera in their hands.

The lights started to dim in the room and everyone hushed. A spotlight was put on the backdoors and they opened. A stream of children started to walk in, each in a pokemon costume. They filed in and lined up on the small sets of foldable bleachers that were on both sides of the stage. A few children went into a door that led backstage and happy music was playing as they all came in.

The curtains opened and-who Lyra guessed was Gemma- was standing in the middle of the stage. She had bright green hair that was in a high ponytail. She wore a light green dress and smiled at the crowd.

"I'm chikorita and I-"

"Rita! Rita! You gotta help me!" A whine came from someone backstage. A little boy dressed up as a poliwag ran out and Minuet started to take pictures, smiling as she did so. "I-I accidently squirted Poochyena with my water gun, and now he's after me!".

"Calm down, I'm sure we can figure out something." Gemma said, patting the boy's head.

"You got me alllllllll wet! Gr!" A little boy growled. Daniel ran out onto the stage from the back, dressed in black and gray, pulling off a very good growl. Nate started to snap pictures and smiled as he growled. Music started to play and the children on the bleachers sang as the three children launched into a running scene, where 'chikorita' and 'poliwag' ran down the steps that were on the front of the stage and ran around the room with 'poochyena' right behind them.

The play had many more musical numbers, many that Lyra didn't understand but enjoyed anyway. It ended with all three of them becoming best friends and going on tons of adventures together.

"That was seriously adorable." Lyra said as the lights came back on in the room. "That was worth missing 6th period for."

"Told you that you'd enjoy it." Proton stood up and stretched. He made no effort to move out into the crowded middle aisle, so the 4 of them stood in their row and waited for it to clear out. "They're doing it again later tonight. I don't see why I had to come to this one."

"They are?" Lyra asked.

"Yeah. They do one in the middle of the day for students, one for later in the afternoon for parents that can make it to that time, and one at night for the rest of the parents. Having one later in the afternoon prevents it from being super crowded at the night showing." Minuet explained to her. "But, my parents are busy, so, my other brother and I have to watch this play again."

"My brother and I have to come and see it." Proton was now going through his pictures, deleting the ones that weren't good.

"I have to come. Alone." Nate groaned, rubbing her face. "Then take him out for dinner, in full attire of course."

"But it was soooo cute!" Lyra told all of them.

"Yeah, but, you don't have to go to these all the time." Minuet argued as they walked out of their row and out of the lunch room. "I have to go to double them since I have two little siblings."

"Ooh…" Proton and Nate groaned, understanding her pain.

* * *

"What are you doing right now?" Proton's voice said into her ear. Lyra was sitting in her living room, working on some reading homework that wasn't due until next week when her phone rang. She didn't expect that question when she answered.

"Uh….English homework..?"

"Want to go see that play again?"

"Who is it?" Lyra's mother asked when she saw her daughter on the phone.

"It's Proton, mom. See the play again?" She asked. Her mother made a gesture at her and Lyra could barely focus on what Proton was saying. "When? Now? What? Are you on your way here?"

"Goooo!" Her mother said in a loud whisper.

"Yeah, I can go. Okay. See you soon." Lyra hung up and her mother smiled at her. "Mom. We're just going to see his little sister's play. I don't even know why he invited me to go."

"Maybe he likes youuuuuuu?" She cooed and laughed as Lyra went upstairs to change. She changed quickly and brushed her hair just as a car pulled into the driveway. She was down the stairs and out the door before Proton could even get out of the car.

"Hurry or my mom will try to interview you!" She said and Proton shut his door again. She climbed into the backseat as who she assumed was Alex backed out of the driveway and drove off towards the school.

"Good evening Lyra, I'm Alex, Proton's older brother." The male looked in the rearview mirror and smiled at her. He had golden blonde hair that spiked up in every direction and had brown eyes, like Gemma.

"Hello! " Lyra greeted. "So, uh, why am I going to the play again?"

"Because." Proton started. "We need someone to get close to the stage and take pictures. Alex and I can't get in and out of the row easily and we'd be in everyone's way if we tried."

"And if we got that close, Gemma might get distracted by us." Alex added. "Sorry to use you like this, but Proton said you really loved the play this afternoon and said that you wouldn't mind seeing it again."

"It's fine, I don't mind." Lyra smiled. Alex filled the car ride with comfortable small talk. He was very friendly and sociable, much unlike Proton, who kept shooting glares Alex's way.

"Hey, there's Minuet." Lyra said once they got into the lunchroom. She saw the long haired girl shush a younger boy who crossed his arms and sat next to her, probably one of her younger brothers. Lyra wanted to sit next to her, but the seats around her were taken. She sighed and plopped down onto a chair when they finally found three that were empty.

"Oh, hey." Cassius greeted.

"What." Proton said, not happy to see an Aqua.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Lyra asked just as Nate appeared at the end of the row. She slipped by them and sat down on the other side of Cassius.

"Got the camera." She told him and adjusted it. "Oh, you're here again?" She asked, surprised to see Lyra there.

"Yeah."

"So.." Nate muttered, biting her lip.

"So. Why are you here?" Lyra asked Cassius finally.

"I came with her so she wouldn't be stuck here alone. I did a nice thing." Cassius explained. "Plus, Daniel loves me and wanted me to come."

"A nice thing? You guys need to tell me when you do these things.." Lyra told them. "It's hard to keep track when you just casually bring it up."

"Sorry, I was going to tell you tomorrow." Cassius shrugged. "Why are you here?"

"To take pictures since Alex and Proton can't do it without getting in someone's way." Lyra explained and laughed.

"We both did nice things. Go us." Cassius high fived Lyra as the lights started to dim.

* * *

"That was a cute play." Cassius said as they all walked down the hallway together, towards the lobby where the kids would be once they got out of their costume.

"It was good the first time.." Minuet's younger brother sighed.

"Gemma was so adorable." Alex smiled as he clicked through the pictures Lyra took throughout the play. Lyra smiled at all of them, letting them know she had heard them. As she walked she thought back to how to get the gangs to be friendly towards one another. She realized that forcing them to be nice to everyone in each gang might be the wrong approach. Maybe it was okay for some of them to hate one another? She knew that Nate and Shelly would never get along, and neither would Tabitha and Carlos. That was just how things were.

But, Proton, Minuet, Nate and Cassius were all fine with each other tonight. They weren't mean to one another or rude. Maybe they would just have to accept the fact that they couldn't make everyone best friends with one another. Still, they weren't even close to being on complete friendly terms with one another, which she figured is what the bosses wanted.

She would have to speak to the teachers later about it. Perhaps she could find a few gang members that got along the best and make them friends? Once they befriended a member of another gang, maybe the rest would join?

Lyra really didn't know what she was thinking. She just hoped it was right.

* * *

**Okay, thank you again for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I just want to let you know that I won't drag this story out for like, 54 chapters or something, in case you're worried about it. At most, maybe 20? Probably not even that. I just want to make sure that character development is noticeable. I don't want them to hate each other one chapter, and then be best friends with them the next. That stuff takes time, so sorry if you feel like I drag things out too much! **

**My friend proof read this for me, so I hope there's no grammar/spelling mistakes. **


	9. Chapter 9: Enter Fate?

**Sorry if I make Shelly seem like a bitch. It's just so much fun.**

* * *

Lyra crossed her legs while sitting in her desk and shifted her weight to one side of her body. She leaned over to Jo with a puzzled look. "Do you think you can tell me about Sakutaro and Lucia?"

"Shouldn't you know things about them? They are your friends, right?" Jo asked. The class had split up into pairs to do work and since Lyra and Jo were actually pretty good at Mythology, they had finished before most of the class. "Well, you're lucky I looked into them. I like to know about the people who sit around me in my classes."

"So, tell me about them." Lyra said, looking at her two friends who were across the room, chatting with each other. She knew she should know more about them, but it wasn't like they hung out much outside of school.

"Sakutaro Iayoi is 13. He's a freshman and he's super smart, so he was moved up a grade. He excels in math and science, which is why he is best friends with Lucia. His mother is a former pokemon researcher and his dad is a business man. He actually used to be student body president when he went to this school years ago. Sakutaro is really fun to be around and he's kind of random. He likes flashy moves and putting on a show when he battles, and he's horrible at history. I, uh, think he's gay. I really don't know what type of guy he likes, I'm trying to figure that out now and I'm not totally sure if he gay. Pretty sure he is though. He has a ninetails, togekiss and empoleon."

"That's impressive for someone of his age.." Lyra muttered and Jo nodded her head.

"Tell me about it…" Jo said, shaking her head. "Lucia is 16 and a junior. She lives with her grandmother on the outskirts of town. Her parents are scholars at a university and are super busy, so they don't come to visit often. Both of her parents love math and science, so she loves them too. She searches for formulas for everything, I'm sure you've noticed that though. She's really shy at first, but she's really happy and supportive of her friends. She prefers brain over brawn and she's a perfect person to have on your team. She has a crush on Saturn and has a froslass, ninetails and dragonair."

"Ah." Lyra said and looked at her two friends again. "Oh…I bet once I get all the gangs to sort of get along, I can hook Lucia up with Saturn.."

"They would go well together….I'm trying to find someone to pair Sakutaro up with. He's just so cute and adorable, I want him to be with someone." Jo smiled and waved as Sakutaro noticed their staring. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind meddling in everyone's lives and finding someone for them. I meddle in their lives anyway, why not try to do something good for them?"

"You actually want to help people?" Lyra asked with wide eyes.

"Hanging out with you has made me good!" Jo said dramatically. "Besides, the less single people in the school, the higher my chances with Morty are."

* * *

Shelly flipped her curly orange hair behind her shoulders and half listened to what Cassius was saying. She looked around the lunch room with a wary eye, making sure things were normal. She caught Carlos staring at Courtney, which really was an everyday thing.

"Poor Carlos, wasting his time with someone who doesn't even return his feelings." Shelly mumbled, acting like she cared when she really didn't. Her smirk showed it.

"Eh?" Cassius asked, confused. "That was random. I'm sure he'll be fine. He is Carlos." Cassius shrugged, glancing over at the rocket male with half interested expression on his face. He really didn't care about the boy's love problems. He probably deserved it since he flirted with girls all the time.

"Maybe she does like him back." Gabi spoke suddenly. "I mean, not everyone shows it like you do, Shelly." She pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear, getting it out of her face. "Not every girl is an expert in the art of flirting."

"They should be. I've got to teach you how to do it." Shelly nodded her head.

"Yeah, like it works so well for you." Cassius rolled his eyes. Shelly just managed to annoy Tabitha and send Nate into a jealous rage. However, that was probably Shelly's goal anyway.

"Tabitha wants me, he just won't admit it." Shelly smiled and looked at the magma table. She winked at Tabitha, who rolled his eyes with a disgusted look on his face.

"I don't think he does.." Gabi mumbled just loud enough for Cassius to hear her. Shelly was a good person, really, and a good leader, but, she just loved flirting and teasing Tabitha far too much. Cassius knew he did it to Nate, but he didn't layer it on like Shelly did. That's just how Cassius was, he couldn't help it. He turned to look at the Magma table and saw Nate glaring straight at them, which, was no surprise there. "And who cares about him? He's a Magma."

"Yeah, but if Cassius gets to be all flirty with Natalie, I can be flirty with their stupid leader." Shelly rolled her eyes.

"I'm not flirty with Nate, that's just how we've always been." Cassius didn't want to continue this conversation. As the only boy in the gang that was not a grunt, he had to listen to Shelly and Gabi's conversations all day, and they usually ended like this. "And it's not flirting, it's just me joking. She knows that."

"Well Tabitha knows I'm joking, so who cares?" Shelly asked and took a bite out of the cookie she had sitting on her tray. Gabi opened her mouth to say something, but closed her mouth and glanced around the lunchroom, her eyes stopping at Lyra's table.

* * *

Minuet blew hair out of her face and listened as N went on and on about something another. She honestly wasn't paying attention to the junior. She just watched as Touya worked on some homework he had forgotten to do the night before. "Need help?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes." The brunette sighed with defeat, sliding the worksheet over to Minuet. Luckily, it was history, and she was pretty good in that subject, so she could actually help him. She was so happy to help him and show off how smart she was, hoping he would get the hint and fall for her.

Okay, she knew that wasn't something that would happen instantly, but a girl can dream.

She sighed mentally and pouted, wondering what she was going to have to do to get the boy to show interest in her the way she wanted him to. Being overly flirty was not going to work, so Shelly's method was out. Being a complete idiot about it was Carlos' method and she wasn't doing that. Being super shy about it worked for Lucia, but Minuet doubted she could do that. Hating other girls for getting close to him was Emilie's way, but, definitely not Minuet's way. Hiding it seemed to be working okay with Nate, so she just decided to go with that.

"So, what year did it start?" She asked Touya and he gave her a blank expression. The dates just weren't sticking to his memory. "Okay, read the passage again and underline the answer when you find it."

She looked around the lunchroom at everyone tortured by their crushes and decided that this was as good as it was going to get. She looked at Lyra's table with a puzzled look. She wondered what Lyra's method was? Maybe she could get the girl to tell her later?

"Found it!" He smiled and her heart melted.

She needed her to tell her soon.

* * *

Nate glared at Carlos, shooting him a warning look. She grew tired of him staring at their table every day. Why wouldn't he just give up on Courtney? And why wouldn't Shelly just leave Tabitha alone?

"Careful there, Nate, you look like you're going to blow a fuse." Brodie joked. "You okay?"

"Fine." She replied shortly. "Just wondering when Shelly will stop being…Shelly and when Carlos will stop being…well…Carlos."

"Probably when you stop being you." Tabitha said and took a bite of his sandwich.

"That's a horrible day when I stop being me. Right?"

"Just an awful day." Tabitha replied smartly, earning a kick under the table from Nate. He smirked at her and took another bite. "I'm being honest."

"You could say it a little less sarcastically." She told him and Courtney laughed, obviously finding Tabitha's joke funny.

"Don't worry Nate, we'd all hate it if you weren't yourself." Courtney reassured her.

"We'd never get anything done." Brodie said. "You're the only one that actually listens to Tabitha."

"Good point. Don't change Nate, or we'd be in complete chaos." Tabitha said sternly. Nate just nodded her head and smiled, inwardly fangirling over Tabitha's demand for her to not change.

'He's so cute!' She squealed inwardly, keeping a calm composure, however, Courtney could see right through it.

"Calm it down. Even Lyra can see you're having a moment." Courtney whispered and Nate froze, turning her head slowly to Lyra's table to see if the brunette was watching her.

* * *

Carlos had a small pout on his face after getting a glare from Shelly. He quickly shook it off and started to listen to what Archer was saying. He only got the last bit of it though, and he figured he might have missed something important.

"What was he saying?" Carlos leaned across the table to ask Proton.

"Meeting was moved to next Tuesday, not today. You need to pay attention." He scolded the male, who just grinned back and shrugged.

"Can't help it when there's a beautiful woman in my sights!" Carlos chuckled and Proton almost threw his apple at him.

"You always have a beautiful woman in your sights."

"I have a scowling Nate in my sights right now." Carlos muttered, looking past Proton and to the Magma table, where Nate was saying something with a slightly annoyed expression. She was always mad.

"Can you go five minutes without looking at a girl or thinking about one?" Proton asked, crossing his arms.

"I dunno, can you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen you sneak looks at Lyra whenever you can. I know you like her." Carlos smirked and lowered his voice so the others couldn't hear. "How sweet!"

"Shut up, you idiot. You are insane. I do not like her. I tolerate her." Proton growled, glowering at the male now. Venom dripped off of his words so Carlos decided he picked on him enough.

"Fine, but invite me to you guys' wedding." He laughed and smiled towards Lyra's table.

* * *

Emilie really didn't like Bianca. She was so giggling and happy and too close to Cheren!

"Are you okay?" Mars asked when she swore she heard the girl growl.

"Oh, fine! Just hungry." Emilie faked a smiled and took a bite out of her pizza, then chewed furiously. Okay, she knew she just got to the school like, a week ago, and she knew she didn't know everyone super well, but she knew Bianca and Cheren did not belong together!

She wasn't being very rational about this, she knew it. She tried to calm herself down, but every time she saw the blonde girl giggle and smiled at Cheren, her blood was boiling again. She assumed this was how Nate felt whenever Shelly flashed a smile at Tabitha. Nate didn't hide her anger well, but at least she hid her feelings for the male from him. Emilie was so sure Cheren knew how she felt.

She groaned and glanced around the lunchroom, her eyes landing on Lyra. She was giggling and smiling at something hew friends said.

"I wonder how she does it…" Jupiter muttered, noticing Emilie was looking at Lyra. "Practically befriends all of us, especially the difficult ones like Gabi and Proton, and still keeps normal people as friends."

"Oh yeah, we're not the normal group, are we?" Mars asked sarcastically. "We're normal."

"Uh, you guys know that I love being a Galactic and all…but…you guys have blue, purple, and bright red hair in weird hairstyles.." Emilie said, slowly. "So, not normal." She gestured towards them and then towards Lyra's table. "Normal. See the difference?"

* * *

Sakutaro felt eyes on him and looked around the lunchroom. He noticed that a member of every gang was staring at them.

"Oh my mew. They are staring." He said, embarrassed. Lucia saw Saturn's staring and turned red, looking down at her tray.

"No formula." She squeaked out, obviously in full-crush mode.

"Oh, they are.." Jo said with a normal face. "Look like you're popular Lyra. They're staring at you."

"What?" She asked, jello in her mouth.

"Duh, why would they look at us? Of course, Saturn might be looking at you Lucia!" Jo winked at the girl and smirked. "Maybe they need to talk to you, Lyra."

"That's really never good. What if they know we talked about playing matchmaker with them?" Lyra became horrified. What if they were planning to beat her up?!

"Maybe they're playing matchmaker with you?" Sakutaro suggested. "Or with each other? Or maybe just discussing how to beat you up."

"Sakutaro!" Lyra shouted. "Not funny!" The boy laughed.

"Lyra, don't worry. If they do, we'll protect you." He told her reassuringly. "Besides, I really don't think that's why they're staring."

"Maybe they're just interested in you?" Lucia said after she got her face to turn back to its normal color. "Maybe they're trying to figure you out since you don't seem to have a pattern or anything."

"Not everything is patterns and formulas and history books!" Jo patted Lyra's back. "Sometimes things are…" She trailed off, not thinking of the right word.

"Random?" Sakutaro asked. He knew random. He was random. He was the only one that would be talking about the smell of oran berries and then jump right to talking about how Carlos and Cassius and Saturn styled their hair, to which Lyra would just guess that Cassius and Carlos rolled out of bed with it, and Saturn took an hour to do his hair.

"Maybe it's…fate?" Lucia guessed.

"If ya had a chance to change ye fate, would ya?" Sakutaro said, quoting 'Brave' with a horrible Scottish accent.

"Will Lyra Kotone please come to the front office? Lyra Kotone to the front office." The intercoms around the lunch room announced. It was barely audible over the noise, but Lyra heard it.

"Yeah, probably would." She told Sakutaro before she grabbed her things. She stood up and threw her styrofoam in the trash bin. She trudged past a few tables, feeling eyes on her back as she did so. She was so close to the office until someone stepped in front of her.

"Hey, Lyra." Shelly said, making the girl halt. "I was just wondering who was in the lead for these gang games?"

"U-Uh, lead?" She asked. 'Aw man!' She thought inwardly, hoping Shelly couldn't detect her fear. "Well, I haven't updated it recently, but last time I checked, uh.." She thought for a few moments. "Rockets are in first, plasmas second, magmas third, aquas fourth, and galactics fifth."

"Fourth? How is that possible?" Shelly asked in disbelief. "Those scummy Rockets are ahead of us?!"

"Well I haven't updated the chart lately. I can do that tonight when I get home and tell you tomorrow."

"Oh, okay. Do that then!" Shelly smiled and walked off.

Lyra was relieved once the door to the office shut behind her and the noise was silenced slightly. She cut it too close with Shelly. She hadn't even been taking points at all. It was all fake anyway!

"Hello dear, his door is open." Ethan's mom greeted her. She nodded in response and headed down the back hallway, straight to Giovanni's office.

"Good afternoon Lyra." He greeted once she peaked inside of the office to make sure he was there. She came in and greeted the other teachers in there. "How are the gangs doing?"

"Ah, well, about that.." She trailed off. "Shelly just confronted me and asked who was winning the games. I haven't been keeping score really since I didn't think it was important. I just sort of told her whatever came to my mind first."

"Which was?" Maxie asked with his arms crossed.

"Rockets were winning?" Lyra didn't mean for it to come out like a question. "They were the last table I looked at and it was still fresh in my mind." That was a tiny lie. Proton had been in her mind so of course she said Rockets. "I'm just worried that when they find out about what we're really doing, they'll hate me."

"They won't hate you; they'll most likely hate us." Archie said.

"Still.." Lyra mumbled. "I don't know if we're going at this the best way. I sort of think we should try to divide and conquer. Taking them all on as a group is a little difficult. I think if we spilt some of them up and group them with other members of different gangs, it might help a little." Lyra explained. "There's no way to get them all to like each other. Tabitha and Shelly will most likely never get along, Proton and N probably won't get along either. Since Tabitha doesn't like Shelly, the rest of the Magmas don't either, same with Proton and the Rockets. If we try to divide them up, maybe one or two of the Magmas will like Shelly and the same for the Rockets."

It was silent for a few moments. Lyra was beginning to worry that they didn't understand what she meant.

"So, try to group them with someone they might be able to get along with?" Cyrus asked.

"Yes! Find things they have in common, or maybe have one tutor the other in a subject. You know, something simpler. Just so they can see how each other acts without their gang around them." Lyra exclaimed, happy they understood.

"That might just work." Giovanni said. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not now, but I think I can come up with a few.." Lyra replied, thinking how lucky she was to know someone who knew almost everything about the gangs that would make this task much easier.

* * *

**Sorry to make this seem like a filler. (Gah, I'm saying that for every chapter! T.T) I really don't know how this chapter was dominated with crushes and matchmaking things. I really don't know. **

**Anyway, remember that if there is anything you would like to add to your character, please PM me! Also, I know I added the gym leaders and other characters, so if your character has any background past or anything with any of them, don't hesitate to PM it to me. If you want to tell me how your character feel about another character, what they think about them, or how they /treat or interacts with another character (ex. How Cassius feels or thinks about Carlos, and how he treats/interacts with him) you can tell me that too. They're your characters, so I don't know everything about them or how they deal with different types of people! If you want to tell me, that's fine. You don't have to do it for all the characters either; you can just do it for a few if you choose to do it at all. **

**If there are any characters you would like to see interact more, just tell me in a review! Thank you very much for reading and reviewing!**

**Also, this coming Friday (may 10th) is my birthday and I'm having a party friday and saturday (friend party and family party) so I won't have time to start a new chapter. Also, next week is my last week of school. Hopefully then I'll be able to do a chapter, because on the 25th I will be graduating highschool and for about a week after that I will be in Disneyworld for vacation. So I suddenly go missing, that is why. I just wanted to let ya'll know ahead of time. **


	10. Chapter 10: Enter the park!

**Guys, if you don't send me in info about your character (check my author's note at the end of the last chapter for details) then I won't be able to include your character much in the chapters. The more I know about your character, the easier it is for me to use them. Just check the author's note in the previous chapter for details! (Plus, I have something planned, but I need to know how your characters interact with the others, or, at least one gym leader/champion/elite four member/etc.)**

* * *

"You could've just knocked on the front door you know." Lyra said as she sat in the back of Archer's car with Carlos. All of the gangs were meeting up at the town park Friday night. The Rockets had volunteered to pick her up since she was in their neighborhood anyway. Carlos decided to throw rocks at her window to get her attention, but she just walked out of the front door when she heard a car door open and slam.

"I was trying to be dramatic. Like in the movies!" Carlos exclaimed and Ariana rolled her eyes up in the front seat. They pulled into Proton's driveway a few minutes later. Carlos was about to get out when the front door opened and Proton appeared. He got into the car and greeted them all. Lyra felt herself sigh as she was pushed between Proton and Carlos in the backseat on Archer's car. She was content though. It actually was nice. The music was good, they made conversation, and she wasn't nearly as scared as she was the first time she went out to meet all of them. (And who wouldn't love having an attractive boy on both sides of her?)

"My sister was so mad that I was going to the park without her." Proton told Lyra as Archer and Carlos argued about something weird. Probably something stupid, too. "She wanted to see you again."

"Awah, I would've come in to visit her!"

"If you went in you'd never come out. She'd hold you captive. She wants an older sister. She doesn't understand that Alex and I don't like to play dress up with her." Proton rolled his eyes and sighed. "I can handle tea parties, just not dress up."

"Tea parties? Ah, I gotta see that." Lyra chuckled. They arrived at the park and Archer pulled into a parking spot that was in one of the many parking lots around the park. She slid out as Proton held the door open for her. She stretched her arms and legs and looked around the park. It was a big grassy area. Off to one side of the park, there was a 3 foot wall that surrounded a big play area, with gates all around the area, so you could get in from any side. It was a concrete wall and had graffiti all over it. Nothing bad seemed to be written on it, but there was a lot of blue, red, dark red, yellow, and light blue markings over it. Outside the play area, there were swings, quite a bit of them, and then a tall slide. On the other side of the park, there was a park for different pokemon. Little fountains were squirting out water for water types, and there were swings and slides designed for pokemon, and other play things. There were streetlights on the side of a sidewalk that went all around the park and served as a walking path.

"C'mon." Archer said to them. He had his houndoom and houndor out and they wore leashes. They barked and look excited to be at the park. "We'll get there in a second." He told it, calming them down. They started over the pokemon side of the park as houndom tugged along on its leash.

Two houndooms and a mightyena were already running around an enclosed grassy area, both playing with a rope and tugged at it from both ends. Tabitha and Nate were leaning against the fence, watching them play. Courtney sat on top of a bench while Brodie sat on the actual seat part of the bench. Lyra noticed that Brodie and Tabitha had dark red hoodies on. Courtney and Nate had jackets that went mid torso and were also red. She hadn't seen it before, but Proton and Carlos both wore black hats, like the ones the paper boys wore in those old movies. Flat and black. Ariana and Archer both wore white shirts that had tiny buttons with red 'R's pinned on them.

"There, go have fun." Archer opened the gate and unhooked his pokemons' leashes. They ran off to play with the other pokemon. He rolled his eyes and shut the gate. "Where are the others?"

"Dunno." Courtney said and popped a bubble. "We got here a few minutes ago."

"Can't believe we're actual earlier than the Plasmas." Brodie said and smirked as he threw a small pebble at Nate's butt when she leaned over the fence to pet her Houndoom's head.

"Hey!" She squealed, turning to look at Brodie. "What the hell?" She asked and her pokemon growled.

"Sorry, it slipped out of my hands!"

"Bull.." She mumbled, and pet her pokemon again before it hurried off to join the others. "Don't throw stuff at me."

"It slipped." Brodie chuckled and Carlos laughed too, mostly at Nate's now red face. "Won't happen again." Carlos released his Swampert to go play at the water area of the park and plopped down next to Brodie, and also Courtney.

"We're not late, right?" Gabi asked as she approached the group. She had her hair up in a ponytail and it was tied with a light blue bandana. Shelly had a bandana on her head, keeping her bangs out of her face. Lyra looked for Cassius, but he wasn't around.

"Just on time." Courtney said and looked at her phone. "Others are late."

"I knew we had time for food." Carlos grumbled. Courtney offered him gum, and he took it immediately, very pleased now that he had something to break the ice with Courtney. Shelly released her Mightyena into the play area and he ran off to play with the others. The area kind of looked crowded with three houndooms, a houndor and now 2 mightyenas, but, they had tons of things to play on and they all looked happy. Lyra had no clue they all had such scary pokemon.

"How can you tell them all apart?" Lyra asked Tabitha as she leaned on the fence next to the two Magma members.

"You just know." He said with shrug as his mightyena ran over for some attention.

"Like your children." Nate told her and smiled at her houndoom. "They're your babies, you would know them anywhere."

"Oh..." Lyra watched the two. There was a strange calm about it all.

"Hey, hope we're not late!" Minuet called out as she and her group appeared. "We stopped for food." She let her absol out to the play with the pokemon and sat down on another bench. Touya joined her and N and Touko stood behind them.

"Where's Cassius?" Nate asked as she looked at the Aquas. "He sick?"

"Right here!" Cassius jogged up. His bandana was around his mouth, like all the gang members in the movies wore theirs'. He pulled it down so it would be around his neck and flashed a smile. "Sorry, had stuff to take care of." Lyra caught the faint smell of paint in the air, but she ignored it and greeted him anyway.

"I'm so glad it's finally nice out." Courtney said.

"It's hot." Jupiter said as she and her gang approached the group. She had metallic looking pants on, while Saturn had a metallic looking shirt on and Mars looked like her skirt was metallic. Emilie trailed behind, wearing black shorts with metal strips in them that seemed to cover any holes or rips she had on the shorts.

"Maybe you shouldn't be wearing pants then." Courtney shot her a glare, daring her to have a snide comeback.

"We can't all go around in skirts 24/7 like you." Jupiter crossed her arms as she said this. Lyra noticed the scowl on all the magmas faces', and on Carlos' face too.

"We should let our pokemon out so they can play!" Lyra interjected before either side could say anything else. She let her mareep and cyndaquil out of their pokeballs. No one else made a move until Proton called out his koffing and slowpoke. The rest soon followed, much to the relief of Lyra. "Thank you." She whispered to Proton as he picked up his slowpoke. He shrugged and carried his pokemon to the water fountains and the other water types. His koffing trailed behind him, floating right by his head.

Lyra felt a gush of wind beside her and saw Carlos' charizard flapping its wings, lifting it off the ground. She turned back to the water area and saw a splash in one of the bigger fountains. A milotic peaked its head out and cried out before diving back in, making Lyra wonder how deep the fountain actually was.

"Misdreavous." A calm voice right next to her head said. She jumped back, startled, which made the ghost pokemon cheerfully float around her head, happy she had scared the girl. The pokemon quickly took Lyra's hat and floated off with it.

"Give it back!" She shouted running after it. The pokemon was too fast though and Lyra knew she couldn't catch her. "Uh...Whoever gets my hat back first gets 40 points for their team!" She shouted. Everyone look towards the misdreavous and moved all at once towards it.

Lyra moved out of the way before they ran her over. They pushed and shoved one another, trying to catch the ghost pokemon. It was actually sort of entertaining. "Damn!" Minuet growled when she could stretch her arm far enough to grab the rim of Lyra's hat. "Soooo closee!" She whined.

"Misdreavous~!" The pokemon cheered, having tons of fun with the chase. She dodged an ice beam attack from Gabi's Milotic and a flamethrower attack from Carlos' charizard, Tabitha's houndoom, and Archer's houndoom. It also dodged an ember attack from Touya's pansear and a psychic move from Saturn's kadabra.

"Hey!" Nate shouted after getting hit with a water move. She glared at Gabi as she shook water off of her, but it was no use since she was completely drenched. "Misdreavous!" She shouted, recalling the pokemon to its pokeball, and grabbing Lyra's hat in the process. "Here." Nate handed the hat back to Lyra while a few people groaned.

"Not fair!" Cassius whined.

"I wasn't going to do that, but since I got soaked, I decided I didn't care if I played fair or not." Nate spat, taking her jacket off and ringing the water out of it.

"I might have an extra jacket in the car, here." Tabitha tossed his car keys to her and she caught them with ease. She stormed off with her houndoom right beside her.

"So, 40 points to the Magmas!" Lyra announced. "Don't worry, I have something else for you all to do!" She said quickly, so they wouldn't get into another fight. "Whoever can run around the whole perimeter of this park and get back to me first, wins. Second and third place also get points, but, you can't cheat, I'll be watching!" Lyra told them with a serious look. "If you're going to race, line up rightttt here!" She walked over to the sidewalk. Carlos and Proton stepped up, along with Touya, N, Touko, Saturn, Archer, Brodie, Tabitha, Shelly and Cassius. "On your mark...get set...GOOO!" She yelled and they took off running.

"Yeah, definitely not doing that.." Courtney muttered, chewing on a piece of gum. "Too much competition there."

"I don't do running." Minuet said and sat on a bench next to Lyra. "Definitely not with those guys. "

"What are they doing?" Nate asked. She had another hoodie on, most likely Tabitha's. Her shorts were still wet, but she wore them anyway. Her hair was up in a wet, messy updo, and she looked irritated.

"Racing." Gabi said and received a glare from Nate, who blamed Gabi for soaking her.

"You okay?" Courtney asked and Nate shook her head.

"I'm heading home. It's kinda cold out here now and I don't want to get sick." She said.

"Well, Tabitha will be back soon, so he can give you a ride." Courtney started blowing a bubble with her gum.

"Ah, well, I've got another ride actually."

"Who?" Courtney's bubble popped and she gave Nate a suspicious look. Lyra felt like they were invading a private conversation. Minuet felt the same way as well and started to talk with Gabi and Emilie.

"Just...you know.." Nate trailed off, digging around in her pocket for Tabitha's car key. She tossed it to Courtney who caught it and twirled it around her finger, still looking at Nate for a more direct answer. "Volkner." She answered and Courtney's expression turned to one of slight disgust, much like Jupiter's and Mars' face. A car pulled into the parking lot as the group started to reach the final stretch. "Look, I won us 40 points and I got soaked in the process."

"Fine, go." Courtney waved her hand and motioned her to leave. "But, Tabitha won't be happy."

"Yeah well, he's never happy with me anymore." Nate grumbled. "Later." She waved, mostly to Courtney and Lyra, and ran off, her houndoom on her heels. She jumped into the car and shut the door after houndoom jumped in and the car sped off.

Saturn reached Lyra first, with Carlos and Touya right behind him. "Okay, 100 points to Galactics, 50 to Rockets, and 25 to Plasmas!" Lyra announced and all the runners collapsed to the ground, regretting doing the run.

"That's why I don't run." Mars said, looking down at the people laying on the ground. A phone started to ring and Carlos reached for it but the phone was in his jacket, laying on a bench and clearly out of his reach. Lyra grabbed his jacket and reached in the pockets, looking for the phone. Once she found it, she handed it to him and he smiled at her and murmured a thanks as he answered it.

"Yeah..." He said, still panting. "I just went running...well you don't have a body like mine by just sitting around you know...I should have stretched though..my legs hurt..I can't move..." The person on the phone must have said something mean, because his face scrunched up.

"Did you have fun?" Lyra asked as she stood by Proton.

"Tons.." He groaned, sitting up. "Horrible idea."

"Well I had to get you guys to do something." Lyra smiled.

"Where's Nate?" Tabitha asked, already standing and walking towards Courtney.

"She was cold so she left." Courtney said simply.

"With who?" He asked, irritation already on his face.

"Who do you think?" She replied and crossed her arms.

"Oh, I gotta go." Carlos said, standing and brushing himself off. "Sorry." He said to his own gang. "But at least I won us some points!" He smiled. "Bye!" He waved and smiled at Courtney before he jogged off with his Swampert and Charizard right behind him.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Ariana yelled after him, but he didn't reply. "Urg!" She growled, rolling her eyes. "He just jumps up and goes whenever he pleases."

"That's Carlos for you." Archer dusted himself off and watched the retreating figure of the Rocket member. Lyra could tell the Magmas and Rockets were irritated that they had each lost a member and she wondered where Carlos ran off to and what did Nate mean when she said that Tabitha was always mad at her lately? Other than the Rockets, Carlos didn't seem to have any other friends, and Nate and Tabitha never looked mad at each other, and wasn't she basically in love with Tabitha? She wouldn't do anything to make him mad, right?

What was going on?


	11. Chapter 11 Enter: Ideas

Nate gave a bored sigh as she watched Volkner and Carlos battle it out. She sat on the hood of Volkner's car, with Flint and Jasmine on either side of her.

"Hurry it up!" Nate shouted, still wet from the incident at the park.

After Volkner picked Nate up, he saw Carlos and wanted to battle with him because he was bored and they always had good battles together. So Volkner called Jasmine, who he knew could get Carlos away from the group if she asked nicely enough, and got her to pick him up and take him to Stark Mountain, the junk yard, so he and Volkner could battle it out.

"Come on Volk!" Flint cheered as Volkner's Luxray dodged an attack.

"You can win this, Carlos!" Jasmine cheered, though her voice wasn't as loud as Flint's. No one's voice was as loud as Flint's. Nate sat between them and huddled more into Tabitha's jacket, though, once she remembered it was his, she took it off and threw it behind her onto the windshield. "Are you alright?" Jasmine asked, drawing her attention away from the battle.

"She's just pissed at Tabitha, again." Flint said before Nate could open her mouth. He was right, of course.

"He's been ignoring me!" Nate groaned, fully aware she was now sounding like a bratty child. "He barely talks to me anymore and every time he makes us do something, I get paired up with Brodie or Courtney or some stupid grunt! I used to get paired up with him!"

"Maybe he's got a girlfriend?" Carlos said, then laughed. "Ah man, that was a good one.." He laughed more, then signaled to Volkner for a pause in their battle. "I'm hilarious."

"Yeah, you can go on tour with that joke." Nate grumbled, frowning at the rocket. "You guys have been battling for almost an hour."

"You're almost completely dry now." Volkner said as he walked over to them. He patted her now almost dry hair and chuckled at it's friziness. "Don't worry about him, you'll only put yourself in a foul mood."

"She's always in a fou-Ow!" Carlos frowned as Volkner's Luxray shocked him with an electric attack. "Rude.."

"Perfect word to describe you." Nate said through clenched teeth.

"Please leave all gang rivalry for when you're around your gangs, thank you, or I'll get steelix to teach you two a lesson." Jasmine said, silencing both of them.

"Fine, let's get back to the battle." Carlos said, ready to beat Volkner.

"Okay." Volkner said and slid his jacket off, dropping it right on top of Nate's head. She squealed and struggled, startled by it suddenly falling on her head and covering her eyes.

"Thanks, best friend." Nate said, partly sarcastic but partly sincere, as she slid the jacket on. "Warm. Yes, content now. Carry on with the battle! And kick Carlos' ass!"

* * *

"Hey, Lyra." Gabi greeted Lyra in gym class Monday morning. Lyra was shocked, since Gabi never started conversations. Ever. "Shelly and Cassius were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us over spring break next week? It's suppose to be hot, and Cassius wants to go tubing out on Lake Valor."

"Lake Valor?" Lyra asked, confused.

"Yeah, there are four lakes. Valor, Verity, and Acuity. They all are actually the same lake, but different points in the lake, around the shore areas, are just named different things. Lake Rage, the fourth one, is also part of it too. " Gabi explained.

"Oh..well...of course! I'd love to go!" She smiled. Gabi actually look happy and went back to Cassius and Shelly to report the good news. Lyra knew her friends, Dawn and May, were coming to visit for a day or two during spring break, but, she was sure they wouldn't mind hanging out with the Aquas.

"Lyra, you're coming to the lake with us, okay?" Mars said, coming up to Lyra after hearing what Gabi told the Aquas. "Lake Verity. Got it? I'm not letting those water logs suck up to you for points." Mars said and Lyra wasn't sure how to react. "Besides, you need some color. A little tanning will help. I'll text you the details." With that, the redhead was gone and Lyra was very confused.

Maybe the Galactics wouldn't mind having Dawn and May hang around them while they went tanning?

"Lyra." Nate greeted, appearing beside her. "They didn't say anything after I left, right?" She asked, a little worried.

"What? Oh!" Lyra exclaimed, realizing she was asking about what happened after she left the park. "Nothing, except Tabitha looked pissed."

"Yeah I got an ear full this morning during the car ride here." Nate grumbled. "Thanks."

"Wait, is something going on? You know, you can talk to me about it if you'd like." Lyra offered, smiling at the blonde.

"He's just being weird." Nate brushed it off and shrugged. "It'll be fine...but..thanks for offering."

"No problem." She said and Nate trotted back over to Courtney, who was shaking her head at Nate and probably about to lecture her on something. Lyra sighed, hoping she would be able to discover what was going on with the Magmas soon enough. She was friends with all of them now, and she hated not being able to help her friends. Plus, she had a feeling that if she helped Nate with whatever was bothering her, maybe she could finally figure out how to make them more friendly towards each other.

They tolerated each other now, but even toleration for each other wasn't enough. The head bosses wanted them to be friends with each other. Lyra believed that they wanted too much, but, they wouldn't listen.

So, she had Carlos suddenly leaving the other night, which was weird because he never leaves when Courtney is around. Then she had the magmas irritation with Nate when she left with Volkner and also Nate's issues with Tabitha that seemed to be going on. Now, Carlos and Nate kept shooting each other looks. She couldn't tell what kind of looks though. One moment, Mars says something and they both chuckle and look at each other, then suddenly glare and frown at each other. Obviously, wherever they went Friday night, they were together. Maybe Carlos was friends with Volkner?

"Are you okay?" Gabi asked, coming over to Lyra once again. She had been watching the girl and was able to tell that she was having a hard time about something.

"Fine.."

"I'm very good at reading people, and the vibe you are sending out is nothing close to fine. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. "

"Just...confused. All of you confuse me. You get along one moment and then are at each other's throats the next." Lyra confessed.

"Well, we're not supposed to be friends. Our leaders don't like it when we're friends with each other." Gabi explained, like it was the easiest concept in the world, which it sort of was. "Why be friends with them? We have a few outside friends and have our friends in out groups. I have Misty and Cassius as friends. How many friends are you suppose to have?"

"Way more than two.." Lyra muttered, looking at Gabi. She didn't seem like the type to have a ton. "But, I guess that's okay.."

"Well, you don't get a lot of options for friends when you're in a gang, Lyra. People don't even like half of us." Gabi told her. "And when you have to dislike many other students that are in other gangs, making friends gets harder."

"Hm.." Lyra mumbled. "What if you all became friends?"

"Then I would be amazed. Ah, Cassius needs me. Bye." Gabi quickly left Lyra and hurried back to her group.

"What was that about?" Minuet asked, chewing on a piece of gum she most likely got from Courtney. "You look so stressed, you need a piece of gum? Courtney gave me an extra piece.." Lyra took it hastily and chewed violently.

"The gears are turning in my head, that's all." Lyra said between chews. "I'm coming up with a master plan!"

"Awesome, for what though?"

"Uh..." Lyra thought and groaned. She was so stupid. "I don't even know."

"Oh..well. I'm sure it's a very good plan. So..you wanna go laser tagging with us next week?"

"Sure."

* * *

"Jo, I need help." Lyra sat next to the girl at lunch.

"You finally want to tell me how in love you are with Proton?"

"Yes I-wait a second, no!" Lyra's face flushed and she elbowed her friend. "No no no. Everything is a mess with the gangs. I'm going to the lake with the aquas one day and the galactics the next and then going laser tagging with the Plasmas. Nate is having issues with her gang and she's in trouble for ditching them for Volkner, Carlos is being weird...and..." Lyra sighed as she trailed off.

"Look, Lyra. I think you should just treat them all like their your friends. Forget about points and making them get along." Jo advised. "Keeping up with it all will surely kill you. Just...befriend them. If they want to be friends with you, they will do it and they won't care who your other friends are. Trust me, those are the most stubborn and head strong people I've ever known."

"Forget about it?"

"At least for spring break, alright?" Jo asked. "Ooh, speaking of the gangs.." Jo muttered, smirking as she looked off to Lyra's right. Lyra looked too and felt a pang of nervousness as she saw Proton approaching the table.

"What?" Sakutaro asked and then looked in the direction they were looking. "Oh! Jo, talk about something with me." He said quickly. "But just make it look and sound like we're not paying attention to what he's telling her, I wanna hear it loud and clear."

Lyra glared at them as they started to talk about movies but turned towards Proton when she saw his shadow loaming over her. "Hey." She nodded her head and bit her lip.

"Ariana heard you were going to the lake with the Aquas and then the Galactics. Plus, laser tagging with the Plasmas.." He said, looking a little irritated. Lyra bet he knew that Sakutaro and Jo were listening in on them.

"Yeah, I am. Mars sort of forced me too.."

"She does that with everyone." Proton said and stuck a hand into his pocket. "Ariana wants to know if you want to come mini golfing with us next week?"

"Oh, yeah! That sounds like tons of fun! I'm an awesome mini golfer." She smirked and clenched her fist in determination.

"We'll see about that, I'm sure I can beat you easily." Proton chuckled and Lyra pouted at him.

"Yeah right, leave the smack talk for when we get out there! You'll be eating your words." She told him and smiled. He returned it with a small smile before walking back to his table. She watched him until she realized everyone was watching her. "What?"

"That counts as a date." Sakutaro said immediately

"It's a gang thing." Lyra brushed it off, rolling her eyes.

"Urg, she doesn't want to admit it." Jo shook her head and Lucia joined them at the table.

"Have I missed something?"

"Lyra has. She can't see the love in Proton's eyes! Well, actually, the strong possibility that he might actually be interested in her." Sakutaro said with a shrug.

"Okay, I'm going to the bathroom. This topic needs to be gone when I come back." Lyra told them and left the table.

"Would you two like to help me play matchmaker?" Jo asked with an evil smirk.

"Oh no.." Lucia mumbled, not liking how this was going.

"Oh, it's good. You can plan all of this out, I know you like formulas and patterns and mathy stuff." Jo told her with a wave of her hand. "Look, we all have people we want to get together around here, right? How about we all help them get together? I can find out their schedules easy and then we can make them encounter each other in the hallways!"

"How?" Sakutaro asked, interested.

"Okay, so, between 2nd and 3rd, there's a possibility that Lyra and Proton can run into each other in the hall. If I stall her, or, run into her and make her drop her stuff, there's a chance that she and Proton will run into each other and talk, or, he could pick up her stuff for her and carry it to her class for her. It'll be better when we put this in action." Jo explained. "And, you two can help yourself in this. I know I will be." Jo smiled and glanced at Morty, waving at him and almost falling out of her seat when he waved back. "So, is it a deal, my little minions?"

"Hm, maybe." Lucia crossed her arms to think about it. "We pick a few people, and then launch this plan? What if they catch on?"

"Then we stop doing it, or switch people. Just a few little things, nothing major. It'll be nice to give them more time to talk or more things to talk about. Or, just make them mad.."

"Because mad gang members is exactly what I want." Sakutaro said sarcastically and whined when Jo kicked him under the table.

"Look! It's our duty to help this poor, unfortunate souls. We, my friends, are far better in romance than they are."

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Sakutaro asked. "But..it could be fun. I'm so in."

"You are?" Lucia asked, not very surprised. "Well..uh...I guess I'm in too.."

"Perfection! I'll make sure Saturn and you run into each other in the hallways now!" Jo winked at Lucia and laughed.

* * *

Friday crept up faster than Lyra thought it was, and she was now trying to plan a whole week of events around her friends coming into town. She decided she would go mini golfing Saturday with the Rockets, Sunday was when Dawn and May arrived and tanning with the Galactics, Monday was cosmic bowling with the Magmas, Tuesday was tubing/wakeboarding/boat day with the Aquas, Wednesday was when Dawn and may left and later that evening she would be going laser tagging with the Plasmas, Thursday and Friday were unknown. She was hoping to get them all together, she just didn't know how.

"Lyra! Hey!" Jo greeted Lyra when she walked out of her first period class. "Okay, so, I have this awesome idea. We should do a sleepover."

"A...sleepover?" Lyra asked, confused now.

"For next Thursday? Yes! You can invite all the gang members, it'll be great. Plus, you can invite me and my minions too." Jo suggested. "Cassius' grandpa has a beach house, it's hugeeee, and I bet if you bring it up to Cassius, he'll agree to all of us going down there and partying it up!"

"I dunno..." Lyra mumbled, unsure of the idea.

"Just tell him about what the teachers want you to do, like, the whole truth of making you all friends. Cassius is so chill, he'll want to help." Jo reassured her.

"Here he comes!" Jo said when they saw Cassius walk out of his class. "Cassius!" Jo called him over. The blonde and brown headed male looked at them before walking over to them.

"What's up?" He asked, pulling his bookbag more onto his shoulder. "Something wrong?"

"Ah, no, well, I need to tell you something..." Lyra took a deep breath. "But it's a secret, okay?" He nodded his head in understanding and she told him everything. "And...Jo came up with the idea of the sleepover...but...that's all up to you."

"Dude, of course." Cassius smiled. "That's a pretty big task you took on, I don't mind helping you out. I wanted to hit the beach anyway. I'm sure we have enough room for everyone."

"Seriously?!" Lyra asked, surprised. "Thank youuu!" She cheered and hugged him. "You gotta help me out here. I don't know what to do with anything."

"I told her to forget about it and just focus on befriending all of you.." Jo said. "I'll see you in 3rd." She turned into a classroom leaving Cassius and Lyra to walk to gym class.

"We're all friends with you now." Cassius said and shrugged. "Gabi feels like she can talk with you, I like you, Minuet thinks you're funny, Nate think you're different, but that's a good thing, Carlos likes hanging around you, and Emilie likes your spunk. You're doing pretty well on your own, especially since Proton is interested in you. "

"He is?"

"Look, I know I act stupid, but I'm not." Cassius said and held open a door for her. "I can read guys easily. He's interested in you. He's just confused. So, we can work out plans for the beach when we hang next week, alright?"

"Alright!" Lyra smiled at him, happy to have a friend in this. She didn't feel so stressed anymore. She was going to take Jo's advice, but, maybe she would make them play a few games at the beach, just for the hell of it.

"Ah, you're getting an evil smirk. Whatever it is, I'm so in." Cassius said when he saw her face.

* * *

**I'M GRAUDATING HIGHSCHOOL OH GOSH.**

**Well, nbd. Haha, I'm sorry if this chapter is boring, but, the next few will rock y'alls world, however, you won't be getting an update for at least a week. I'm going on vacation. **

**(You guys should review as a graduation present to me) **


	12. Chapter 12: Enter Minigolf and a jacket

**Trying to learn how to use Windows 8 is really difficult…sorry, this is probably a boring chapter, but, I don't do battle scenes. I always skip them when I read stories because they are boring, so, don't expect a ton of pokemon battles in the story. (THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE LOVE BETWEEN PROTON AND LYRA NOT POKEMON BATTLES GOSH DON'T YOU GUYS WATCH ROMANTIC COMEDIES?)**

**Also, thank you all for the graduation wishes! :3 I didn't trip as I walked across stage and I actually got a tan while I was on vacation!**

* * *

Proton felt a heavy weight on his back as he walked towards the front door of his house. "Prooooo! Take me with you!" Gemma pleaded, wrapping her arms around his neck so she wouldn't slide off of his back.

"No, Gem, I can't." He sighed, making her slid off of his back. "This is something for my club, I'm not allowed to bring you."

"That's not fair!"

"Life is not always fair, Gem. Sorry, but I can't bring you along. Go play with Alex or something. I'll be home later." With that, he went out the door and shut it behind him so he couldn't hear any more of the girl's whining. He loved his sister, but she really could be annoying. He started his car and drove towards Lyra's house. He didn't know why, but he was actually happy that they were getting to hang out. Of course, the rest of the Rockets were there, but it didn't matter. This could give them extra time to earn points to help them stay in the lead in the games. However, he didn't even know if Lyra was still keeping score. She hadn't mention anything about them in a while.

Lyra was already waiting outside for him when he pulled up. She dashed to his car and jumped in, locking her seatbelt in place before he could blink. "Go go go go or my mom will come out here and try to invite you in for dessert or something." She said quickly, her words ran together but Proton was able to understand her and they were out on the road heading towards the mini golf place within a few minutes.

"So, who is winning the games?" Proton asked.

"Eh? Oh, the games, well, you guys are." Lyra said, wanting to hit herself. Everytime someone asked her, she always said the Rockets were in the lead. She really needed to stop saying that, because if she kept up the points like they all assumed she did, the Rockets would not be winning. They were always the first she thought of, and she had a feeling it was because of the green haired boy sitting next to her.

"We are?"

"Uh, yes, but the Plasmas are very close behind, it's almost a tie.." She lied, trying to sound confident, but, she never seemed confident around Proton. She tried to fake it, but she was sure he could see straight through her. The way he looked at her made her shiver, but she held eye contact with him.

"We can't let that happen, now can we?" He asked as the stoplight turned green and he hit the gas, speeding off to play minigolf.

* * *

"Hey, I can pay for myself!" Lyra whined as Proton paid for her, yet again. He shushed her and grabbed a mini golf club and a red ball for her, while he grabbed himself a club and a green ball. Carlos stepped up to pay, mostly in coins.

"Those freshmen, always carrying change around. It's annoying. Has anyone heard of Coinstars?" He grumbled. Lyra figured it out quickly that the money he paid for a round of mini golf, the club, and the yellow ball was from freshmen who he stole lunch money from. How could she forget that these guys weren't the nicest? Ariana grabbed herself a red ball, Petrel got a purple one and Archer got a light blue ball.

Well, Proton thought he was good at mini golf, but Lyra clearly was the champion and almost hole-in-one'd every hole. Carlos got so tired of it, he just started to throw and toss his ball onto the hole, instead of putting it. Ariana, Archer, and Petrel ditched them for another mini golf course because they were sick of losing, while Proton and Carlos stayed with Lyra, deciding to just lose with dignity rather than be a sore loser.

"Told you I was good!" Lyra smiled at them as Carlos rolled his ball down the course.

"I thought you were bluffing." Proton admitted as Carlos' ball dinged against the bricks lining the course. He heard the boy curse and then just grab his ball and drop it in the hole.

"Next time you'll believe me, won't you?" Lyra asked, now smirking at Proton, who felt very dumb for doubting the girl. "My friends and I used to mini golf all the time."

"The ones that are coming into town?" Carlos asked when he finally joined them at the next hole.

"Yup, May and Dawn." Lyra said and set her ball at the start of the hole. She got into position and tapped her ball, sending it down the green with ease. "They'll be here tomorrow, then we're going to the lake for tanning with the Galactics."

"That'll be fun." Proton said sarcastically as he hit his ball. It hit Lyra's ball and went straight into the hole. Lyra pouted/glared at him, but he just smirked at her, shrugging as he did so. "My bad."

"My bad my butt." She grumbled, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll get you on the next hole."

"Eh, we can go to the next hole." Carlos declared, following them to the next hole. He knew there was no way he could win anyway. "Galactics are so weird…they want to create a new world or something. I dunno, they're space freaks."

"Sure are." Proton said, agreeing.

"And the Magmas are land freaks, Aquas are water freaks and Plasmas are just…freaky." Carlos said, not coming up with something for the Plasmas.

"And what are you guys? The best gang? I'm thinking more of the thug gang." Lyra said, smiling as boy males gave her a half glare, but not protesting to it. "Please, you two, you know I'm right. And hanging out with all the gangs separately will be nice. I'll get to know each of you guys more this way."

"Why do you want to get to know us?" Proton asked, leaning on his golf club.

"Because, it's all part of the games. You'll see at the end of them." Lyra said, putting the ball and getting another hole in one. She cheered and grabbed her ball out of the hole, smirking at the two Rockets, who both let out defeated sighs. "Next one!" She called out, skipping to the next hole. The two males followed her and Lyra set her ball down to putt. She thought about it for a few moments, then Proton sneezed and she swung the club hard, sending the ball flying. "Proton!" She shouted, acting like he was the reason her ball was now gone, however, she couldn't have planned it better herself.

"Sorry." He mumbled, rubbing his nose.

"Go get me my ball. Or another ball." Lyra demanded.

"What? I don't want to walk al-" He stopped as she glared at him. He groaned and headed back towards the main building, cursing as he went.

"Okay Carlos, where did you go when you left the park?" Lyra asked straight forwardly.

"Wait, what?" Carlos asked, surprised. "Did you send that ball flying just so you could ask me that?"

"Maybe. Proton sneezing really made it seem believable. So, tell me. I need to know."

"No way, you'll tell the others and I'll get in trouble." Carlos shook his head, holding his golf ball tightly in one hand.

"I won't, Carlos, I promise!" Lyra said honestly, looking him right in the eye. The boy gave her a skeptical look, but gave in.

"I went to the junkyard with Jasmine to battle Volkner. Nate was there too. We usually do that every once in a while."

"You know Volkner? Wait, you're friends with Jasmine?"

"Yeah, no biggie, just don't let anyone know! I don't wanna get in trouble like Nate does. Ariana would kill me if she found out I hung out with Jasmine." Carlos looked behind him, seeing Proton approaching. "So, hush about it, okay? Maybe next time you can come with us, you'd like it. I'm great in battles." He smirked.

"Here." Proton handed her a new ball. "Just don't hit it into the water."

"My turn!" Carlos tossed his ball. It bounced and plopped right into the water. "Dammit." Carlos groaned.

"I'll get it!" Lyra dropped her bag and ran to the little pond.

"Don't!" Proton shouted, but she jumped in anyway. The water was chilly, but clear. She searched for the yellow ball and found it, and a few other balls too, and returned to Proton and Carlos, wet and with a rainbow of golf balls in her arms.

"Ha, got it." She smiled, handing them all to Carlos. She shook herself to get all the water off. Proton sighed and took off his jacket. He placed it on Lyra's shoulders and she pulled it around her, starting to feel cold.

"Don't do that ever again." Proton told her, zipping his jacket up on her once she got her arms through the sleeves. "You could have slipped and broke your neck."

"But I didn't." Lyra rolled her eyes at him. "I'm fine! Plus, look how many golf balls we have now!"

* * *

"So, I totally destroyed you in mini golf." Lyra announced as Proton drove her home later that night. He frowned while she beamed, very proud of herself for winning. "Come on, be a good sport about it."

"I am." He grumbled. "You only won by a few points.."

"Awah, don't be a sourpuss now." Lyra laughed as they pulled up in front of her house. Proton turned to look at her and she kept the smile plastered on her face. Lyra became aware of how quiet it was as they looked at each other. It dark outside and inside the car, but she could make out Proton's face in the darkness. She brushed her now dry bangs out of her face. She thought about taking his jacket off and giving it back to him, but, she wanted to keep it just a little longer. "I'll wash your jacket and give it back to you soon."

"Lyra-" Proton was cut off at the front door to Lyra's house opened and light flooded onto the yard.

"Ah, there's my mom. She probably thinks we're making out or something." Lyra joked, though she was growing nervous with every passing second. "What were you saying?"

"Nevermind." Proton shook his head. "I'll see you later." Lyra, now a little disappointed, got out of the car and waved goodbye, before heading inside her house to be pestered by her mother.

* * *

"We're so happy to see you!" May and Dawn squealed as they jumped out of Dawn's car and hugged Lyra tightly.

"I'm happy to see you two, too!" Lyra cheered, hugging them back. She was so excited that they were here to visit. She just hoped that they got along with the gangs. The girls chatted and gossiped and giggled as they waited for Emilie to show up to Lyra's house. When they heard a car pull into the driveway, Lyra turned to her friends and gave them a serious look. "The Galactics, that's what they call themselves, are sort of weird, okay? But they're really chill too, so, just, don't be freaked by them."

That was difficult to do when Emilie was a complete road rage driver and played broadway music so loudly Lyra thought she was going to go deaf. They all jumped out of the car when they got to the Lake, much to the confusion of Emilie, who claimed she was a great driver.

A drifblim floated over to them. It led them down a gravel path that opened up to a grassy area with benches and grills everywhere for cookouts, and a large sandy beach, where many people were. Jupiter was laying out in the sun, while Mars and Saturn were in the water with the others, probably Galactic lower ranking members. The drifblim floated over to Jupiter, who sat up and moved her sunglasses off of her eyes. "Took you guys long enough!" Her eyes narrowed when she spotted May and Dawn.

"Hello Jupiter, these are my friends from my old school, May and Dawn." Lyra said politely, knowing she didn't want Jupiter in a foul mood.

"Nice to meet you two, I'm Jupiter." She said calmly before laying back down. Emilie rolled her eyes and spread her towel out on the other side of the beach. Lyra pulled May and Dawn with her while she walked over to Emilie.

"She's just bitchy…a lot." Emilie told Dawn and May, who laughed and spread out their towels. "Isn't that right?" She cooed to her Vulpix, who yelped and laid on the towel happily. May called out her Torchic and Dawn called out her piplup. Lyra decided to let Fritz out and the little lamb pokemon fell asleep instantly.

"Mars is the redhead and Saturn is the blue haired guy." Lyra said and pointed to the other two main members. They looked to see Mars jumping on Saturn's back, causing him to tumble into the water. A gust of wind swept the beach from two grunts battling and Jupiter fell out of her chair. Silence swept over the beach like the gust of wind had. She stormed towards the boys to yell at them.

"Jupiter is scary. Saturn and Mars aren't, really.." Emilie sighed, putting her sunglasses on. "So, Lyra, how was golfing last night with the thugs?"

"Thugs?" May asked.

"The Rockets, another group. I beat their butts." Lyra said proudly. "It was a lot of fun, actually."

"Good, glad you had fun. Hanging out with me is better though." Emilie smirked and rubbed sunblock on her arms and face. "I know I'm not a fine guy, like Carlos and Proton, but I'm a pretty good looking girl."

"Who is Carlos? Who's Proton?" Dawn asked looking at Lyra. "Why didn't you tell us about them?!"

"Because, we don't talk about other groups out loud. Shush." Lyra hushed her friends. "The groups…okay…gangs…don't like each other, so, please don't talk about them when other gangs are around. Emilie is chill about it, so, she doesn't count. They're just these two guys in the Rockets." Lyra explained quickly.

"Yeah, just watch out for those Plasmas…" Emilie growled. "I know they talk shit about me to Cheren. Trying to sabotage my chances with him!"

"I'm guessing you like this Cheren guy?" May asked, watching Emilie intently.

"Yes, and that stupid Bianca gets in my way! I need advice for it!"

"I don't know these people…but, I don't think you should get so jealous." Dawn said calmly. "Just, be yourself. You're friends with him, right?"

"Yeah.."

"He obviously likes you enough to be your friend. That's good."

"Especially for Cheren." Lyra said, remembering how….Cheren, Cheren could actually be. "If they were talking shit about you, he wouldn't be friends with you."

"I guess that makes sense…I still hate Bianca.." Emilie grumbled, crossing her arms. She hated the blonde giggly girl and that would never change until Cheren was Emilie's.

"….So who is Proton?"

"Just a guy." Lyra murmured.

"Just a Rocket thug that's totally into her." Emilie laughed, causing people to stare. "But, let nature run it's course. Time will tell if you two will make it work."

"Shut up." Lyra told Emilie, her face bright red. She still had Proton's jacket in her bag. She didn't want to wash it yet because then it wouldn't smell like him. Minty with a little bit something else. She couldn't figure it out. It smelled very good though. She felt weird for keeping it and wearing it, but, he was the one who put it on her. It's not like she stole it or anything. Nate wore Tabitha's jacket when she got wet, and Minuet had stolen Touya's hat and worn it for a few hours at the park, so, it wasn't weird that she wore Proton's jacket to bed last night. Was it? Oh no, it was!

"Eh?" Dawn said, looking out over the water as two jet skis zoomed by, sending huge waves to the area where everyone was swimming at. Mars toppled into the water, pulling a few people with her.

"Haha." Emilie laughed as the people swimming were thrown off balance by the waves.

"It's that damn Volkner!" Saturn shouted, seeing the blond spiky haired male ride by again. He waved to them and smirked, obviously pleased with his work.

"Isn't that Nate?" Lyra asked, seeing the blonde clinging onto to Volkner for dear life, obviously not happy with the activity they were doing. Her face was buried in Volkner's back and she screamed whenever they went over a wave. Flint was right behind them with another blonde girl, though she was seated in front of him. He looked like he was teaching her how to drive it, but he was in full control of the machine.

"Sure is." Emilie chuckled, looking at the furious face Mars was wearing.

"Wait, did she say Volkner? Like, the shining, shocking star Volkner?!" Dawn asked, amazed. "Woah! I didn't know he and Flint went to your school! You're so lucky!"

"Who are they?" May asked, not following Dawn.

"Uh, every girl in school talks about them! They came last month to our school for some battle thing. He's the electric trainer! Flint is the fire one! They knocked everyone out when they double battled together. They're so cool!" Dawn gushed, stars in her eyes.

"I bet I can ask Nate if she'll introduce you to them…?" Lyra said and Dawn squealed.

"That would be awesome!" Dawn looked so excited. Lyra hoped she could follow through.

"Be careful, you know how Nate is.." Emilie warned Lyra, lifting her sunglasses up to look at her. "They need to ride by here again. I love tidal waves."

* * *

"I can't believe I might actually get to meet Volkner and Flint!" Dawn squealed, putting mascara on in Lyra's bathroom.

"Relax, _might_ is the key word. I gotta ask Nate when she shows up to get us…" Lyra said, looking out her window.

"Where did you get that jacket from?" May asked, pointing towards Proton's jacket, which Lyra was wearing. She had been wearing it all day as they sat around and watched 'What Not To Wear'. It was black and not super baggy, so it looked normal on her.

"Just…" Lyra struggled to come up with a lie.

"Is it a boy's?!" Dawn asked from the bathroom. "I thought it smelled a little boyish."

"No!" Lyra lied, shaking her head. The doorbell rang then and she sent a silent pray to every legendary pokemon.

"Oh, is that her? I hope these guys aren't weird like the Galactics. Emilie was nice, but I didn't like the rest of them." Dawn murmured, pulling on her shoes.

"I liked 'em." May said and trotted down the stairs, following Lyra. Dawn caught up to them and Lyra opened the front door.

"Let's go." Nate said, turning on her heel. Literally, she had on heels. Lyra followed her, as did Dawn and May, who shot her confused looks. "Sorry I was late, I was at this formal thing with my mom, that's why I'm in heels and the pants and the top and the hair.." She muttered, patting her head to make sure her bun wasn't messed up. "C'mon, I'm in heels and I'm walking faster than you." She called to them, already down the driveway and inches from her car while Dawn and May and Lyra were still on the sidewalk.

"How do you walk like that in those?" May asked as they all climbed into her car.

"Weeks of practice." Nate told her and started the car. "So, what did you want to ask me Lyra?"

"Oh, well, we saw you and Volkner and Flint at the lake yesterday.." Lyra said and Nate stopped the car and looked at her seriously. "I won't tell Tabitha, promise. Dawn just really wants to meet them."

"Oh, you do?" She asked and looked at Dawn before she continued to drive. "No problem, I was going to hang out with them after this. You promise you won't tell Tabs and Courtney and Brodie I was with them, I'll bring you three along."

"YES!" Dawn cheered, excited. "This will rock! Can we just skip bowling and go straight to meeting them?"

"No can do." Nate rolled her eyes, getting onto the highway. "Cosmic bowling starts early tonight, 8pm. It'll take an hour to play, so, after that, we can go meet up with them. Don't go all fangirl for them, okay?" She looked in the rearview mirror at Dawn, sending her a glare. "Seriously, don't."

* * *

"I have to tell you guys something." Lyra said as they paid for their bowling shoes.

"What?" Brodie asked, lacing his up.

"I suck at bowling." Lyra sighed, shaking her head. He laughed and patted her shoulders. "I'll try though…"

Lyra soon realized how Carlos felt last night when she and Proton were kicking his ass at minigolf. Nate and Tabitha were in the lead and were the perfect team, May, Dawn, and Courtney were on a team, and Brodie teamed up with Lyra because he felt bad for her. He wasn't good at bowling either.

"I'm glad you see you guys are all getting along." She commented when he and her when up to bowl.

"Tabitha and Nate always get into little fights. He ignores her, she runs off with Volkner and her other friends, he gets mad at her, she blows him off, and it always ends up with him saying sorry." Brodie shrugged.

"He ignores her?"

"It's weird." Brodie said, then bowled. His ball almost went into the gutter, but turned last minute and hit a few pins. "It's just how they are. He hates it when she goes off with her other friends, I don't see the big deal in it. She needs friends. We're seniors, we'll be graduating this year. She isn't and she'll be in charge of this group next year. She needs to have connections around this school, but, she's horrible at making friends."

"She's friends with me and she was nice to Dawn and May." Lyra said and groaned when her ball went into the gutter, again.

"Good. She's much better than she was when we all first met her."

* * *

"Here we go." Nate said as they pulled into the driveway of Volkner's house. "Please, remain calm." She said, mostly directed at Dawn, and got out of the car. The three girls followed as she knocked and then walked into the house. Volkner and Flint sat on the floor, into a video game while a girl with sandy blonde hair in a loose ponytail sat on the couch, watching them. A jolteon, leafeon, and flareon laid on the couch, watching their trainers. Nate released her espeon and it jumped onto the couch with them happily.

"Nate!" The girl cheered, jumping up to hug her. "Took you forever! Who are they? Did you bring your friends?" She asked and smiled at them. "I'm Lily, nice to meet you three!"

"I'm Lyra, this is Dawn and May." Lyra introduced them and shook the girl's hand.

"Glad you finally decided to show up." Volkner called out. Nate kicked off her shoes and walked into the living room, Lyra and her friends followed suit and all ended up on the couch. Nate dropped Volkner's jacket over his head, making him lose the game.

"Here's your jacket back."

"Damn Nate." He grumbled, pulling the jacket off his head. "Who are they?" He asked, looking at Dawn and May.

"I'm Dawn!" Dawn exclaimed, shaking his and Flint's hands. "You two came to my school in that double team tournament. I'm a huge fan!"

"A fan? Sweet!" Flint smiled while Volkner just shrugged.

"A fan?" Lily questioned, giving Nate a worried look.

"A fan who has no romantic interest in Flint and who will soon be back home in a day or two. She will probably never meet Flint again." Nate whispered to Lily, barely loud enough for Lyra to hear her. "So chill. I'll beat her up if she tries to get him before you can."

Oh boy.

"Dawn is NOT interested in Flint like that, I promise." Lyra told Lily, who looked relieved.

"Hey, isn't that Proton's jacket?" Flint questioned Lyra.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"That boy?" May said.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Dawn and May shouted at her.

"Hm, guess he shouldn't have said anything.." Nate murmured.

* * *

**Okay, Aquas & Plasmas will be the next chapter, so if your characters are in those gangs, get excited because they will definitely have big roles in the next chapter! Bystanders will as well! I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS 4,000 WORD CHAPTER. WOOT. I SHOULD TAKE VACATIONS MORE OFTEN.**

**Don't forget you can always send me infomation regarding your character whenever and certain changes are allowed. **


	13. Chapter 13 Enter: The beach!

Lyra stretched out on her bed and yawned. Her clock by her bed said 10am, which was horrible because Cassius said he was coming to get them at 11am. An hour was not enough time! She threw her covers off of her and ran out of her room and down the hallway to the guest room.

"Guys! Wake up! We only have an hour to get ready!" She shouted, knowing her mother was already at work, so she wouldn't get in trouble for making such a racket.

"What?!" May sat up, her hair going every direction. "I gotta find my swimsuit and fix my hair and put on tons of sunscreen! I burn too easily!"

"I need to scrub my face and get these bags out from underneath my eyes!" Dawn fell out of bed and ran to the bathroom.

"We need to eat!" Lyra exclaimed, hearing her stomach grumble. It would have to wait, though. The three girls scrambled to find their bathing suits and find clothes to wear over them, then they couldn't find the sunscreen, which set them back 20 minutes. Lyra whined as Cassius honked outside. She hadn't gotten to eat. They grabbed their bags and headed out to his car, which had a large boat attached to the back of it.

Cassius smiled as he saw them approaching. Lyra climbed in the front seat, while May and Dawn got in the back. "Nice to meet you ladies, I'm Cassius. I'll be your captain for today's trip."

"I'm May!" May smiled. "This is Dawn!" The blue girl waved, both already half in love with Cassius.

"Why are you so charming?" Lyra asked, rolling her eyes at Cassius.

"I dunno, guess I'm just born with it." He smirked and drove off towards the lake. "Not like I mean to be, I was just trying to be funny."

"Well, you seriously charmed the pants off of May and Dawn, and they barely know you."

"I have that effect on people, males and females alike." He chuckled, turning up the radio. A pop punk song started and Cassius began to tap on the steering wheel, mouthing the lyrics. Lyra's stomached growled and she groaned. She smiled when a chocolate muffin was held out in front of her. She grabbed it happily and took a bite. "I figured you'd wake up late. Nate told me she kept you three out late last night." He passed the bag with more muffins to Dawn and May, who thanked him.

"Yeah, we got to meet Volkner and Flint!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Guessing you're a fan?" Cassius asked, looking in the rearview mirror. "They're pretty chill guys. I love going jet skiing with them. It's great when they force Nate to go out on the water with them. I really need to teach her how to swim…"

* * *

Gabi and Shelly met them up at the unloading dock and helped them get the boat in the water. "Okay, you guys go get in the boat, I gotta move my car. Shels, take the wheel." Cassius said as he jumped off the boat and into the shallow water. He ran up the ramp towards his car.

"Got it." She called out and back the boat up into deep waters, clearly having done this many times before. May, Dawn, and Lyra, sat in the back, where the benches were. Gabi was unwinding a rope and pulling safety vests out from a compartment under the deck of the boat. She handed them to the three girls before tossing one to Shelly, grabbing one for herself, and getting one out for Cassius.

"Thanks Gabi." Cassius said as he climbed back onto the boat. He put the vest on swiftly and took his spot at the steering wheel. "Everyone got one on? I don't want to lose my boaters license because one of you decides that you don't wanna wear it."

"We're good." Lyra said and jumped a little when Cassius drove the boat away from shore at full speed. "Hey, Gabi. Do you have any sunblock?" Lyra called out over the sound of the wind.

"Yup. I got 15, 30, 50, and 70 spf." She said reaching into her bag.

"You're my savior!" May exclaimed, hurrying over to the blonde girl. "I can already feel my skin burning!" Gabi was surprised by her, but let her use her sunblock anyway. Lyra could tell she was trying to be very friendly, Cassius probably told her to be.

"Thank you Gabi." Lyra said and smiled at her when she grabbed a bottle of sunblock for herself and Dawn.

"No problem, I always make sure to bring plenty. I burn easily." Gabi sighed and sat down on one of the cushioned benches in the back of the boat. It was a pretty big boat, most likely meant for wakeboarding and tubing, which was something Cassius probably did every day that he could. He soon stopped and dug around the front of the boat for something. He pulled out a huge circle thing that lightly resembled a floaty or something. He pulled it down to the lower deck, where they all were and dropped it on the ground.

"Okay girls, we are going tubing. Have any of you gone tubing before?" All three shook their heads. "Great, I sense you will be falling off a lot. Anyway, there are 6 hand straps here." He pointed to them and tugged on them. "They're strong, they won't break, promise. You three will be hanging on while I, or Shelly, drive the boat around, got it?"

"What if we fall off?" Dawn asked.

"We'll come back and get you. I'll start slow, so, you ready?" Cassius asked.

"Uh, can I watch first?" Lyra asked, a little nervous. She usually jumped at things like this, but the thought of flying off into the water made her nervous.

"No problem. Gabi, will you go with them?" Cassius asked. She nodded her head and they got the equipment ready. Once all three girls were on it, Cassius started the boat slowly. Shelly sat in the back, watching them to make sure no one fell off, and Lyra sat next to Cassius. "So, you still wanna hit the beach? Gramps said it was fine if we did it."

"I'd love to! If there's enough room for all 5 gangs."

"Trust me, there is. It used to be this bed and breakfast sort of thing. It's got like, 11 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. 6 upstairs and 2 downstairs." Cassius chuckled. "My grandpa bought it and fixed it up so our whole family cold come and visit when we went down to the beach. It's right on the beach too."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, of course I am." Cassius told her seriously, speeding the boat up again. They heard a scream and Shelly signaled to them that someone fell off. He slowed it down and turned to get them. Dawn swam and climb onto the boat.

"Can I go again?" She asked and Lyra gave her a thumbs up. She climbed onto the tube again and Cassius started the boat once more.

"It's big, in a great location, and there's a pier with a broadwalk with tons of things to do on it nearby. It also has great waves for surfing!" Cassius smiled. "We can leave Thursday morning. It's a 5 hour trip up there."

"I need to text everyone about it tonight then.." Lyra mumbled.

"Yup. Just tell them that it's until Saturday and if they're parents are unsure of it, just tell them my grandpa will be there with us. A little lie never hurt anyone. We can get the people with the biggest cars to drive." Cassius suggested.

"Genesis! What would I do without you Cassius?"

"You should be thanking Jo, she's the one who came up with the whole thing. Make sure to invite her and your other friends, Sakutaro and Lucia. They'll help keep the peace…or destroy it knowing Jo…" Cassius sighed, but laughed anyway. "I can give them directions too."

"Oh, you know what we should do? Put everyone's name in a hat, and whoever the drivers are, making them pick a few names out of the hat randomly and whoever they pick will be the ones riding in the car with them!" Lyra exclaimed. "It's a good way for them to start getting along with one another!"

"Sweet! That'll be so uncomfortable for some of them, I love it." Cassius joked. "I might need Gabi with me though, or with you. She's getting better, but I can't stick her in a car with Nate or any of the magmas." He said and turned to glance at the blonde, who looked bored, while May and Dawn looked scared. "She's coming out of her shell more, especially with you. Great job."

"That's all on her. I'm just nice and friendly towards her." Lyra smiled at them and waved. May waved and fell off. "Better turn around…." Lyra groaned.

* * *

"How long did it take for him to get that good?" May asked, as they all watched Cassius wake board. He flipped and spun and even let go of the chord a few times. Shelly drove the boat perfectly, making it easier for Cassius to wake-board.

"Probably one summer." Gabi answered, smiling as Cassius landed a trick. He gave a thumbs up to them. "Speed it up!" Gabi called up to Shelly, who groaned.

"You're such a show off Cassius!"

"It's in my nature!" He yelled back, smirking.

"He's trying to teach me how to wake board, but it's difficult." Gabi said.

"I bet it is." Dawn replied. "I would face plant so many times. But he looks strong. I bet that's a lot of it too. You gotta have some muscle to do all those tricks."

"You have to have coordination too, Dawn, something you lack." Lyra said and was hit in the face with a spare life vest. "Rude."

"You sound like Carlos." Gabi commented.

"Hey, isn't that one of those Rocket guys you mention yesterday?" May asked.

"Yeah, you mentioned him when we were tanning Sunday, right before Volkner came by on his jet ski." Dawn said and Lyra shot her a look. "Remember?"

"Yes I do…" Lyra trailed off, hoping Dawn would get the idea and shut up.

"Yeah, because we talked about him and then Volkner caused that huge wave and you got Nate to take us to hang out with him after cosmic bowling!" Dawn said and May elbowed her, telling her to shut up.

"Hush Dawn, Nate told us not to tell." She whispered. Luckily, Shelly hadn't heard them.

"She did?" Gabi asked, hearing everything.

"No.." Dawn said, trying to take back what she said.

"Oh, I don't care." Gabi shrugged. "I just assumed she wouldn't hang out with them anymore. She usually does whatever Tabitha tells her to do, and he probably told her to not hang out with them."

"Who knows?" Lyra asked, wanting to drop the subject before Shelly overheard them and went and told the Magmas. "Cassius, you really are a showoff!" Lyra shouted. Cassius laughed and did a flip, proving what Lyra said was true.

"I can't help it. It's in my DNA." He laughed. "Wanna learn how to do this?"

"Uh, no." Lyra shook her head. "I'd probably die."

"I almost did." Gabi shook her head. "I just stick to tubing.."

* * *

"So, call me when you two get home, okay?" Lyra said and hugged her friends again. "Drive safely!"

"I'm a fabulous driver." May said and started her car. "We'll come down to visit soon! Love you!"

"Love you guys too!" Lyra waved as they drove away. She really enjoyed having them visit. She missed them a lot, but, she was happy to have all the gangs to herself once again. She felt like having them here any longer would set the gangs back, and that's the last thing she wanted. She trotted upstairs and fell onto her bed, ready for sleep. She remembered she had to text the gang members about the beach, and started the long process of typing the message and sending it to all of them. Of course, they replied right back, but they all shut up when she told them it was a mission from the head bosses.

A little lie never hurt anyone. She did have to explain it to her mother, but she was excited for Lyra to go, so it was easy. Lyra was so excited for it too and started to pack, knowing she would be busy later that evening with the plasmas. She looked at Proton's jacket and sighed. "Mom, I need to wash this…" She called out, wanting her mom's advice on how to wash it so it wouldn't get messed up. If she washed it now, she could wear it so when she gave it back to Proton, it would smell like her. She hoped she smelled good.

* * *

"I can't wait to hit the beach!" Minuet said as they pulled on their vests for laser tagging. "When I got your text earlier, I practically screamed. I need a vacation from babysitting my siblings."

"Me too." Touko muttered, looking at Touya, who was having a little difficulty putting his vest on.

"Touya.." Minuet grumbled, helping the boy. "You got the chord tangled.." She shook her head, but smiled at him. "Dork."

"I try." He shrugged. "So, we ready to kick butt?"

"Not yet, the other team is still suiting up." N spoke softly, barely audible over the loud music playing.

Lyra was excited to get in there and whoop some butt! Tubing and bowling weren't her things, but she could kick butt at this!

"Uh, Lyra…." Minuet whispered, stepping closer to Lyra. "Is that Proton's jacket?"

Okay, Lyra decided to wear it one last time before she washed it.

"Oh, Minuet, how are things with Touya?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Slow." Minuet grumbled, folding her arms. "He's just…a little oblivious sometimes. I'm hoping when we go to the beach, we'll be able to spend sometime alone.."

"Oh, definitely!" Lyra exclaimed, nodding her head. "You two will definitely get together."

"I hope. Anyway, that his jacket or what?"

"Yes...everyone keeps asking me that!" Lyra grumbled.

"Well…it does have a 'R' button right here.." She pointed at the chest of it. There was a tiny, bright red 'R' button pinned.

"Oh.." She unclipped it and stuck it in her pant's pocket so it wouldn't fall off during laser tag. "That explains a lot."

"Probably explains why a few kids from our school weren't looking you in the eyes.." Minuet shrugged.

"They weren't?"

"No way, they're scared of you. Everyone knows that's Proton's jacket, and if they don't, they know the 'R' symbol. They probably thought you're his girlfriend, or a newbie rocket that's gotten high up in the ranks." Minuet explained and Lyra's cheeks turned pink. Proton's girlfriend?

"Oh..yeah…girlfriends wear their boyfriend's jackets….." Lyra mumbled. A buzzer sounded and Minuet smirked.

"Let's go kick some ass!" She cheered, running into the dark room.

Lyra and Minuet teamed up and outranked everyone. They both were the highest scorers and most valuable players in the game. Lyra couldn't believe how hot it was. The second she got home, she was washing Proton's jacket because there was no way she was giving it back to him all sweaty and icky! She wanted it fresh and clean for him when she returned it to him.

* * *

Lyra stumbled out of her bed, slamming her _OFF_ button on her alarm clock and walked into her bathroom to brush her hair and wash her face. They were all meeting up around 8am at the grocery store parking lot to head off to the beach. Lyra had a baggie with everyone's name who weren't driving in it in her normal bag. She had another bag, a small suitcase, packed and waiting by the front door. It was hot outside and she could barely contain herself as her mother drove her to the store. She saw most of them standing around. She kissed her mom goodbye, grabbed her things, and ran to them.

"Hey chica!" Carlos greeted her, smiling as she approached them.

"Good morning!" Cassius said and took a bite of muffin he had. Nate nodded at her, still sleepy, and took the muffin from Cassius, taking a bite of it before giving it back to him.

"Glad to see you all excited." Jo told her, sitting on the hood of Cassius' car, her bag right beside her. "This will be so much fun! Cassius told me I'm rooming with you!"

"Made the most sense." He shrugged. "I got it all written out, since I know how many beds are in each room, it was easy."

"Who am I rooming with?" Sakutaro asked, approaching the group with Lucia right behind him.

"You got Saturn, since he has no other boys on his team to room with." Cassius explained. "I thought I was going to have my room all to myself, but I have to share with Carlos."

"I hate sharing beds.." Carlos whined.

"Uhm, who am I sharing with?" Lucia asked shyly.

"Lyra and Jo. I couldn't stick you in a room with someone like her." Cassius nodded his head towards Nate, who hit his arm.

"You're an idiot." She grumbled, crossing her arms. They all waited for the others to show up. By 8:10, they were all there.

"Petrel couldn't get off work, so he can't come." Cassius said once they all gathered around. "I'll tell you who you're rooming with when we get there. I swear to mew, if you guys screw up the place, I will personally end you." He threatened, looking at everyone with a seriou slook Lyra never saw before. "So, don't screw up."

"Simple enough." Saturn said.

"Okay, time to get this show on the road!" Lyra announced. "Will the drivers step forward please?" Emilie, Cassius, Tabitha, and Touko, all stepped forward and Lyra held out her bag. "Okay, everyone pick 4 papers, except you Cassius, you pick 6 since you have that extra row in the back of your car and Touko you pick 5."

Once everyone picked their papers, they gave them to Lyra for her to announce.

"Riding with Emilie will be Gabi, Touya, Saturn and Lucia." Lyra said. "Riding with Tabitha is Shelly, oh boy.." She muttered. "Jupiter, Mars, and Ariana.."

"Fuck." Tabitha groaned. "All the.." He trailed off, deciding not to finish that.

"It's okay, we'll take a break at certain points in the trip, those are marked on your directions, and we can trade if we need to." Lyra explained. "Touko gets N, Courtney, Sakutaro, Archer and Brodie. Cassius gets me, Proton, Carlos, Nate, Minuet, and Jo." Everyone started to move their bags to the cars they were assigned too.

"Lyra, can I swap with Gabi?" Nate asked as Lyra picked up her bags.

"You sure?" Lyra asked. "Well, yes, I'll allow that. She'll be more comfortable in our car probably." Nate left to tell Gabi.

"I can't believe she did that." Cassius said when Lyra climbed into the car. Gabi sat shot gun. Jo sat beside Lyra, with Minuet beside her, while Carlos and Proton sat in the back. "Ah, well, I guess I can."

"I told her thank you." Gabi said, soft enough for only Cassius and Lyra to hear. She knew how much Gabi hated the magmas, so it was probably difficult for her to tell Nate that.

"Good. Lucky she switched with you. Emilie is a big fan of broadway music…" Lyra said and everyone groaned. "Poor souls in that car…"

The first two hours in the car were perfectly fine. Carlos and Cassius argued about music, which resulted in Cassius turning it up during a song about sex and completely ignoring Carlos, Minuet was very bored, having no one in her gang to talk to, and asked about every 15 minutes how long it was until they got to eat, Proton constantly leaned forward and whispered in Lyra's ear, startling her when she felt his warm breath on her neck, Jo made jokes about it, and Gabi made it freezing in the car because Cassius put her in control of the AC. So, yes, perfectly fine they were.

They all jumped out of the car the second they parked at the diner they all agreed to stop at. Actually, everyone in every car jumped out. They all went in silence to eat, and practically ate in complete silence. Once they got back outside, they talked.

"One person at a time, please." Lyra quieted them all.

"I trade with Jupiter!" Courtney called, going to Tabitha's rescue immediately.

"I wanna trade with Shelly." Carlos said, wanting to be with Courtney, not happy she was now riding with Tabitha.

"No!" Proton hit him over the head, not wanting to sit next to Shelly.

"Will someone please trade with me I cannot listen to that music any more!" Nate whined. Minuet took her up on that offer, happy to be sitting next to Touya for the next 3 hours of the ride. Once everyone was settled in their cars, they started again.

"You know…" Carlos muttered, setting his feet on the back of the seat in front of him. "I have a feeling this ride will be fun."

"And I have a feeling I'm going to come back there and kill you." Nate growled, turning to look at the boy, who just smirked.

"At least you don't have to listen to 'Can You Hear the People Sing?' anymore." Lyra tried to be positive.

"I know.." She groaned. "At least Cassius has good music.."

"You call All Time Low good music?" Carlos started another music fight, this time Nate and Cassius were against him.

"I should have let him go and trade with Shelly.." Proton whispered in Lyra's ear.

"But then she and Nate would fight.." She turned to face him, surprised by how close he was to her. His face was only a few inches away from her, and she knew her face was bright red now.

"GUYS!" Jo shouted, silencing all of them. "SHUT. UP." They actually all listened. Pouted, but listened. "Good. I don't care if you argue, but, seriously, you're like, a foot apart from one enough, so, whisper."

"Thank you." Gabi said, now able to relax. "No fighting on vacation. You three are all getting stressed." She said, rubbing her temples. "You are too, Lyra. Are you okay?" The blonde turned to look at Lyra.

"Fineee!" She said, not wanting anyone to see her bright red face that was caused by Proton. The next three hours were going to be the longest of her life.

* * *

Lyra was sure everyone hated each other once they got to the house. They all stood out on the porch as Cassius unlocked the door and led the in. It had huge ceilings and was beautiful. It also had archways instead of doors leading to the kitchen and living room, so it gave it a very opened concept feel. Lyra loved it. When you walked in, you could see straight to the backdoor, where a sliding glass door gave you the perfect view of the ocean. To the right, there was a large kitchen, with windows everywhere. A long table was also there, with enough seats to seat about 16 people. There were barstools by the counters for more seating. It had a large window, which had another perfect view of the ocean.

To the right of entering the house, the living room was there. There was a large L-section cream sofa, a few love seats that were light blue, and a few bookcases and a chess table against the walls, along with a big tv with tons of game systems. There was a door to a bathroom in the hallway, and also one in this room. The stairs were also here. When you walked up the stairs, you saw a rec room, with another L-Section couch with a smaller tv. Another book case was here, this one loaded with board games.

"Okay, this is another living room, so, in case people are downstairs, you can come up here. There's tvs in each room too." Cassius explained. "Alright, so, to the right, is the girl's wing. " He pointed to a door and opened it. It was a long wide hallway, with 6 doors on each side. The first door on the left is, Lyra, Jo and Lucia. The door beside that is your bathroom, that you will share with Courtney and Nate, who have the bedroom next to it. The last door on that side is Ariana and Jupiter. You two have a bathroom, but it doesn't have a door leading to the hallway. The first room on the right is Mars and Emilie's, then the bathroom, then Touko and Minuet, and the last door is Shelly and Gabi. You two will share the bathroom with Ariana and Jupiter." He took a deep breath and walked over to the left of the rec room.

"Boy's side. It's set up the same way as the girls, so we have Proton and Archer, bathroom, Sakutaro and Saturn. On the left, Tabitha and Brodie, bathroom, Touya and N. The door at the end is my room and Carlos' room." He finished. "So, go get your things out of the car and set it up in your rooms. There's dressers and things for you to put your stuff. Warning, some rooms have two beds, one large bed, or bunk beds." With that, everyone went to grab their things and truck them back to their room.

"You can have the bed, Lyra." Jo said, peeking over the top of the bunk bed. "I love top bunk!" She said happily.

"I like the bottom bunk." Lucia set her things on it. Lyra shrugged and took the single bed, holding the 'R' pin in her pocket tightly, still feeling Proton's warm breath on her neck.

* * *

**Sorry for such much detail, but, I've drawn the house out, and I had to make sure there was enough room for everyone.**

**Okay guys, the next few chapters will be chapters with them at the beach. **

_**You need to send me any extra info or changed info about your character **__**ASAP**__**. The next few chapters are important and I need any final changes you have, whether it **__**be relationships with other characters/feelings towards other characters/crushes etc.**__** Seriously. I need all that info as you finish reading this chapter. The more I know about your character, the more I can use them.**_

_**Don't hesitate to tell me what you want to read in the story or any ideas you have! **_


	14. Chapter 14: Enter Sand

**I have the best reviewers, you guys are so sweet! Also, thank you so much to those that favorite and follow this story. It really means a lot every time I open my email and see that someone has reviewed, favorited, or followed any of my stories. It helps me continue to improve as a writer, so thank you so much. **

**Also, when I was still in school (I graduated. What whattttt) I got bored in all my classes so I drew a picture of a few of the characters. I drew, Nate, Cassius, Jo, Gabi, Carlos, Emilie and Minuet. (I will be drawing Lucia and Sakutaro, but they did not fit on the paper!) **

**Be aware though, I had to go off how you guys described them, so I bet they look nothing like you actually wanted them to, and for that, I'm sorry. I did try. How I drew them is just how I imaged them. Also, I AM NOT A WONDERFUL DRAWER, SO, I TRIED. **

**I'll post the link on my profile. Also, if the layout of Cassius' beach house is confusing, I've done up little layouts on paint and I'll post links to them on my profile. It's a little messy, but it will definitely help you picture it.**

* * *

"You two packed a lot.." Lyra said as they unpacked their bags, storing things in drawers so they had more room.

"We're staying here until Tuesday, so, I think we have a good amount of clothes." Jo said, looking at her and Lucia's things.

"Woah, we have school next week!"

"On Wednesday. We get two extra days now. They told us over the announcements Friday. Didn't you listen?" Lucia explained.

"No…better call my mom.." Lyra muttered, pulling out her phone.

"You guys coming down to the beach?" Courtney asked, already in her black bathing suit. She peaked in their room with her sunglasses sitting on her head. "We're all heading down there."

"Unfortunately." Nate grumbled beside her, crossing her arms over her red and white striped suit. "I'm not going swimming."

"Ya don't have to!" Minuet chimed, hurrying by in a green and black bikini. Shelly followed in a blue bikini and laughed at Nate's expression.

"Of course we're going!" Jo hurried to the bathroom to change and came out within a few seconds. "Let's hit the beach!"

* * *

"We don't swim." Nate and Carlos said at the same time as they sat on the beach. Nate was under the umbrella, while Carlos was laying in the sun.

"You sure?" Lyra asked.

"I'll get in a little later." Carlos said. "I need a siesta."

"I would rather not get in." Nate flipped a book open and laid on a towel. "Go have fun."

"You coming?" Proton asked Lyra as he walked by. Touya followed him with a big beach ball in his hands while Lucia and Touko sat together to start building a sand castle.

"Oh, yeah." Lyra said, following Proton. The water was freezing! She wanted to turn around, but Cassius ran into the water, making a huge splash and soaking everyone with water. "Cassius!" Lyra squealed, in shock.

"You guys need to suck it up!" He said, going deeper into the water. Shelly hit him for soaking all of them, but he just shrugged and dove into the water. Gabi looked around the water suspiciously before she was pulled under suddenly. "Got you!" Cassius shot up out of the water, laughing, while Gabi came up and punched him in the arm for scaring her. Gabi's milotic shot a beam of water at Cassius as well. "Rude." He grumbled.

"Ha, she got you." Touya laughed at Cassius.

"I can get you." Cassius growled as his gyradoes rose out of the water. "Bam!" He said when Touya hid behind Minuet.

"I was not expecting that…" Touya muttered sighing. "Who wants to play water volleyball?" Only a few people raised their hands, so Lyra had to intervene.

"Whoever is on the winning side, their gang gets 15 points." Lyra stated and suddenly almost everyone wanted to play. There was at least one member on either side, which increased their odds of their gang getting points. Lyra joined in on Touya's team since they were short one person, so Lucia and Touko became the referees. Lyra was, of course, right across from Proton, which was imitating because he hit the ball hard. It wasn't a hard ball or anything, but it could still knock her over if it hit her hard enough.

"I don't think so!" Sakutaro called out and hit the ball hard, sending it back over to Cassius' side. Proton hit it and it flew straight to Lyra. She narrowed her eyes hit it as hard as she could, earning them her team a point when the other side couldn't get it before it hit the water.

"Nice!" Minuet high fived her. She got the ball after a foul start with the other side. "Let's see you try and keep up with this!" She shouted, serving it hard.

"I'm not very good at things like that…" Lucia muttered as she watched them play. They were very into it.

"They get too into it for my taste.." Touko put her hands on her hips as her brother was hit in the face with the ball. "C'mon Touya!"

"I couldn't help that!" He called back and served it.

"It just doesn't seem fun." Lucia tried to find it fun, but it just looked stressful. After a few rounds, Touya's team was the victor. A few people stayed in the water, but Courtney, Shelly, and a few others got out to take a break.

Nate was still in the same spot, so was Carlos, but he was asleep. Touya laid next to him and was soon asleep too.

"….Emilie." Minuet whispered. The red head just got down to the beach after loading sunblock on her skin.

"Yes?"

"Will you help me bury them in sand?" Minuet asked. Emilie nodded and Minuet tossed her a plastic shovel. They started to dig up sand and tossed it in bucket, then dumped it on the boys, starting at their legs.

"What are you two doing?" Nate asked, putting her book down after hearing them giggle so much.

"Burying them." Minuet said, the legs of the boys were already covered in sand.

"…..I want in." She said, grabbing another shovel to help Emilie bury Carlos.

"They're going to kill them." Lyra said and Proton sat up to look over at them.

"They're the idiots who fell asleep." He laid back down. His slowpoke was napping beside him and Lyra snuck out her phone while Proton had his eyes closed and snapped a picture of the two. She smiled and set it as his contact i.d. She always emailed it to herself, just in case he ever got a hold of her phone and deleted it. She wanted a backup copy.

She suddenly remembered her camera in her back and pulled it out. She snapped a picture of Proton and his slowpoke, Nate, Emilie and Minuet buying Touya and Carlos in sand, Touko and Lucia building their huge sandcastle, Cassius teaching Sakutaro how to stand on a surf board so he could take him surfing later, Ariana, Courtney and Shelly all sunbathing, and Jo and Gabi playing cards. "Proton, take a picture with me." She said as she held the camera up. She smiled and Proton opened on eye. "You didn't even open both eyes?" She asked, looking at the picture. She was smiling brightly and Proton was beside her, laying down and looking at the camera with one eye. It was still a good picture though.

"Oh yeah, I have your jacket." Lyra said. "Remind me to give it back to you when we go in."

"What the hell!?" Touya shouted when he woke up covered in sand. He couldn't even get up!

"Dude." Carlos grumbled while the girls laughed.

"That's for kicking my seat for three hours on the way here." Nate smirked and Carlos glared at her. He broke out of the sand and Emilie and Nate stood up.

"I'm so getting you two!" He said and Emilie and Nate started to run as Carlos ran after them.

"Help me!" Touya shouted struggling. "How much sand did you pile on me?!"

"A lot to prevent that from happening." Minuet said, watching Carlos chase the girls down the beach.

"I got a good picture of that." Lyra mumbled, smiling.

"Horrible idea!" Emilie whined and crashed into someone when she turned to see where Carlos was. "I'm so sorry!" She told them person quickly, embarrassed.

"Why are you running down the beach?" Cheren asked, fixing his glasses.

"Cheren?" Emilie asked, now more embarrassed. "I was being chased. Sorry for running into you. What are you doing here?"

"Everyone decided to come down here for Spring Break." He motioned to the water in front of them. Steven Stone was there, along with Misty, Clair, Bianca, and almost everyone else.

"Maybe I should bury you in sand!" Carlos shouted out to Nate, who was now running in zig-zags, trying to throw Carlos off.

"A little help would be nice!" She yelled to Emilie. She sent her a look and Nate groaned, barely dodging Carlos' grasp. "Carlos, it was a jokeee!"

"I have sand in places you would never want sand." He argued. She turned sharply and ran back towards Lyra and the others, leaving Emilie with Cheren.

"Thanks!" Emilie called back and smiled at Cheren.

"Looks like they're coming back." Minuet said, now digging Touya out of the sand after he complained about having to go to the bathroom. "Look, I can see your toes now."

"Minuet." Touya said seriously.

"Help!" Nate yelled, jumping over Minuet and Touya.

"No one help her! She deserves what's coming to her!"

"What did she do?" Courtney asked, sitting up to watch them.

"Buried me in sand!"

"Well you did fall asleep." Proton grumbled.

"Nate, say you're sorry." Courtney said and Nate almost stopped to look at her.

"He kicked my seat for three hours." She told her, growing tired. "Proton's even on my side and you're not?" She slowed down once she realized he had her cornered against the water. She couldn't get out without running into the water.

"Haha! Got you now!" He said, grinning at her and slowly approaching her. She looked around nervously and started backing up, shivering when she felt the water hit her feet and back of her legs. All Carlos had to do was reach out and grab her and he could get his revenge! "Ha-GAH!" He shouted out when he tripped over a plastic bucket that had been pulled away from Lucia and Touko by the waves and was now stuck on Carlos' foot. He fell forward, landing right on Nate.

"Get off of me!" Nate shouted, glaring at Carlos, her face bright red, either with anger or embarrassment, Carlos couldn't tell.

"So you can bury me in more sand?" He asked, looking down at her, not noticing how weird they looked.

"…Uh…is this a bad time?" Lily asked, approaching the group. Seeing Carlos on top of Nate in the shallow water made her a little nervous to approach the group.

"What the hell?" Volkner asked, confused as hell. "I thought you hated him?"

"We're not doing anything like that!" Nate shouted. "I'm sorry for burying you in sand! Get off before I drown!" She whined when she was hit in the face by a tiny wave.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Tabitha shouted, coming out of the ocean and seeing them.

"Not what it looks like!" Nate said, shaking her head. Carlos jumped up, holding his arms up.

"Definitely not what you're thinking!" Carlos said, now embarrassed and realizing everyone was watching them. Nate jumped up too and elbowed Carlos, who elbowed her back.

"Next time I bury you in sand I'll remember to bury your face too." Nate grumbled and walked off.

"Next time I'll catch you faster and no one will be there to save your ass." He said, smirking at her.

"Better not be a next time." Tabitha told them both, rolling his eyes at them.

"Looks like you're having fun." Lily greeted Nate when she walked over to the two blondes.

Carlos plopped down next to Proton and Lyra and shook his head, getting the water out of his hair.

"Carlos!" Lyra groaned, brushing the water off of her. "You keep causing trouble."

"That's what I do."

"And ditch their friend who is will stuck in the sand!" Touya struggled, but Minuet had really packed down the sand. Carlos chuckled and went over to help Minuet un-bury him.

* * *

"I'm going in." Nate announced, grabbing her towel around 4.

"Why?" Lyra asked.

"Well, one bathroom, 5 girls." Nate said simply. "We only have 3 bathrooms between all the girls. There's a party tonight up the beach. We're all probably going I'm not going smelling like sand and the ocean. If I get showered now, less hassle for everyone else later."

"Oh, you're right." Minuet jumped up, joining her. "I wanna look good tonight."

"Me too! Cheren will be there!" Emilie followed them into the house and Lyra looked around before grabbing her things and following them in.

* * *

"So, what do you want me to do with your hair?" Nate asked as Lyra looked in the mirror that Courtney and Nate had in their bedroom.

"I dunno.."

"I can do straight, curled, bun, ponytail, braid…" Nate trailed off.

"Do mine!" Minuet sat on the bed in front of Nate. "Loose braid, please." Nate nodded her head and starting brushing through Minuet's long hair.

"C..can you do mine too?" Lucia asked nervously, peaking into the room from the bathroom door.

"Of course, come on it. I might as well use my talents." Nate continued brushing Minuet's hair gently. "Your hair is long."

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Minuet asked and Nate tugged on her hair, making Minuet yelp.

"Totally." Nate hid a smile, finishing Minuet's braid. Lucia sat down when Minuet got up and Nate started brushing Lucia's hair. She did it up in a bun easily. "I couldn't get those two strands up, sorry, but, it looks good on you."

"Thanks." Lucia smiled at herself in the mirror and hurried to her room to show Jo.

Lyra sat in front of Nate now. "You think everyone here likes me?"

"Hm?" Nate asked, brushing her hair. "We haven't hurt you yet, so, yes, I'm sure we all like you. I'm probably the last person you should come to though if you're worried about people liking you. I can't give you any help with this." She braided Lyra's hair into two pigtails and Lyra trudged to the rec room to wait for everyone to be ready.

"You okay?" Courtney asked as she flipped through a magazine.

"Well.." Lyra sat down next to her. "I needed advice, but Nate said she couldn't help me."

"What's the problem, kiddo?"

"I'm a little worried that you guys don't like me…but I think I'm being silly because I know you guys like me enough to keep me around."

"Ah, sounds a little like social anxiety." Courtney put the magazine down. "Well Nate has social anxiety, but she hates talking about it, so that's why she shot you down for advice. She's gotten a lot better over the years though. My advice is to just not worry. No reason to cause problems when there's no need for it. Besides, when we don't like you, I promise you we will show it."

"You two ready to go?" Sakutaro asked, coming from his hallway.

"Yeah." Lyra said and gave Courtney a smile. The girl shrugged and opened the magazine again. "You?"

"Yeah. This will be fun!" He exclaimed and trotted down the steps. Proton came out of the hallway after him and Lyra smiled at him.

"Your jacket!" Lyra exclaimed. She hurried to her room and grabbed his jacket, and the pin, and hurried back to him. "Here you go, and here's your pin!"

"You can keep the pin." He handed it back to her. "I have plenty."

"Are you sure?" Lyra turned the 'R' in her hand, happy he was letting her keep it.

"Yes, keep it." He put his jacket on and smelled it, then looked at her.

"I had to wash it, sorry."

"Oh, no, it seems good." He looked at her again and went down the stairs.

'He thinks I smell good!' Lyra mentally cheered for herself, knowing that now whenever Proton smelled his jacket, it would remind him of her.

"You seem excited." Gabi said, entering the room.

"Ah, just happy." Lyra smiled at the blonde, who tried to return the smile, but was confused as to why Lyra was so happy.

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**Okay, end of this chapter. I have tons of ideas and my friend keeps giving me more, so the beach chapters will be entertaining! I hope you liked this, and if have ideas, lemme know~**


	15. Chapter 15: Dares & Rain

**Thanks for all the reviews! I feel so happy when I see them!**

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"I've never been to a party like this before!" Sakutaro exclaimed, looking around the living room of the beach house they were in. It was Clair and Lance's and it was huge. People were everywhere, in the living room, kitchen, dining room, upstairs, out on the deck, everywhere. Almost everyone from school were there, and so were local teenagers.

"Really?" Cassius asked, taking a sip of his soda.

"No, never. Since I'm a freshman I haven't had many chances to go to them."

"Oh, duh, I forget that." Cassius said. "You're a pretty cool freshman."

"Thank you! And thanks for inviting me on this trip."

"No problemo! You're chill and you can help keep the peace between all of us. I'm glad you decided to come!" Cassius smiled while across the room, Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Why is he nice to everyone?" He asked Proton, who shrugged. "That's irritating…he irks me."

"You do the same thing."

"No, I'm nice to Jo, but I have my reasons." He frowned at Cassius and took a big sip of his drink. "So, how's it going with Lyra?"

"…Fine?" Proton asked, unsure what he meant. Carlos just rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Who the hell took over the DJ booth?" Lance asked near them as Lyra noted the change in music.

"Emilie. Nate is with her too." Lyra answered. The two girls laughed about something, and Lyra was confused, because she swore they hated each other. She walked closer to hear their conversation.

"See, I play music like this and look into the eyes of the bitches I hate." Emilie said as she played a song about getting revenge and stared down Bianca. "I want to leave a mark on their soul."

"Good idea. I just like pop punk."

"Defend pop punk?" Emilie asked.

"Yes!" Nate exclaimed and they both laughed. "Play All Time Low, that'll irritate Carlos." Nate said as the song ended and she picked a song by the band, watching Carlos get an annoyed look that he shot her way. She just smiled and shrugged at him and went back to laughing with Emilie.

Lyra watched them and smiled, never seeing either girls so happy before. Lyra walked away, humming to the tune of the song, something about being lost in stereo. She saw Lucia and Saturn talking. The blue haired male seemed to be doing a lot of the talking, but then Lucia would say something, and he would nod his head in agreement, smiling that she understood what he was talking about.

"Aren't they cute together?" Jo asked, grabbing Lyra's arm suddenly to catch her attention. "Listening to them talk is so confusing though. They're debating whether or not another world could be created. She keeps pointing out flaws, but, he's so chill about it, it surprised me. I guess she says it in such a nice way, you can't help but agree, mostly because she is right. I guess he just likes having someone actually understand what he's talking about."

"They are cute.." Lyra smiled and whipped out her camera, snapping a picture.

"Oh, Jo, hey!" Morty said, approaching them. A small look of panic appeared on Jo's face, but she replaced it with a warm welcoming smile.

"Have fun." Lyra smirked, patting the girl on the back and hurrying off, leaving Jo to get flustered and trip over her words as Morty spoke to her.

She watched as Gabi chatted with Misty and Clair. They seemed to be discussing something about the ocean and the tides. Gabi looked like she was explaining how the moon affected the tides while the other two listened. Then Clair said something that made Gabi blush and elbow the blue haired girl, who broke out into a loud fit of laughed.

"Lyra!" Clair called, more like summoned, the brunette over. Lyra trotted over to the group of girls, wondering why they wanted her. "I need you to find my cousin and command him to start a game of 7 minutes in heaven. I need to make sure Gabi gets in the closest with her little crush."

"Uh, I can try…but…there's loads of people here. Playing that game could be difficult." Lyra mumbled.

"Don't worry, people will clear out soon to go walking on the beach or go curl up with their significant other on the beach." Misty said.

"Ooo! We can mix spin the bottle with it and truth or dare!" Clair suggested, but Lyra was already walking off to find Lance. She had no clue where the male was and stopped by Minuet to ask.

"Hm? Lance…uh.." Minuet thought about it, before she threw her dart to the dart board. She was playing darts with Touya and Courtney, Touya was winning. "He was by the back doors last time I saw him."

"No no no, you're stll throwing it wrong." Touya shook his head. "Let me show you." He said, coming up behind her. Lyra walked away, smiling as she did so.

"What's got you smiling?" Proton asked, appearing beside her.

"Just…I like seeing everyone so happy." Lyra said and smiled again. "Right now I need to find Lance though."

"Why?" Proton asked, probably a little too quickly, but he wanted to know why she needed to find the dragon master.

"Clair wants to play truth or dare with spin the bottle and 7 minutes in heaven…" Lyra realized how odd it sounded, but that's what Clair wanted.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because she's Clair. Why are you asking so many questions?" Lyra asked, spotting Lance. "Hold on, there's Lance." Before Proton could say anything else, she was hurrying off to Lance. He rolled his eyes and followed after her, not trusting the red head near Lyra at all.

"Oh, hey Lyra, having fun?" Lance asked as the girl approached him.

"Tons of fun, actually." Lyra said. "But Clair wants to play truth or dare with spin the bottle and 7 minutes in heaven…"

"She wants to play what?" He asked, confused now. "I'll go find her." He rolled his eyes. "Oh, hello Proton." Lance muttered as Proton stepped up beside Lyra. He glared at the redhead, warning him to back off.

"Hello." Proton said, though there was no speck of politeness in it.

"I'll go look for my cousin. Thanks for telling me, Lyra." With that Lance, left. Lyra turned to face Proton and put her hands on her hips.

"Proton."

"Yes?" He asked, not noticing that Lyra was mad at him.

"That was rude."

"What was?"

"Just glaring at him like that."

"That's my normal face." Proton told her, shaking his head. He didn't know why he glared at Lance. He didn't like him being near Lyra.

Lyra looked around while Lance went to go find Clair to discuss the game. She held her camera to take more pictures, eager to post these on her poke'face account. She snapped a picture of Nate leaning over the DJ booth railing, ruffling Carlos' hair while he pouted at her with Emilie laughing behind them, Cassius and Sakutaro kicking butt at the pool table, Lucia and Saturn both smiling at each other, Jo with a very flustered face while she spoke to Morty, Gabi joking with Misty, and Minuet playing darts with Touya and Courtney. "Oh! Lemme take a picture of you." She turned to Proton, who shook his head.

"No."

"Yes." Lyra said, snapping a picture of him. "I'm building memories here, Proton. Don't you ruin it."

Clair soon came around, gathering many people up to play her game. She pulled them over to a closest, making them all sit around in a circle. She placed a bottle in the center and smiled. "Okay, so, you will spin the bottle, whoever it lands on, you give them a truth or dare. If they refuse to do it, they have to spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on, they have to get in the closet with them for 7 minutes, and you have to kiss them. Got it?"

"Uh, question." Emilie said, raising her hand. "Can we refuse to do the truth/dare just to get in the closet with a person?"

"….Sure." Clair shrugged, sitting down next to Misty. Lyra looked around, noticing that Clair had just grabbed random people and forced them to play. "Here we go!" She spun the bottle eagerly. It landed on a person Lyra didn't recognize. This went on for a while, until it landed on her.

"Lyra, truth or dare?" Minuet asked, getting the girl's attention.

"Uh, well, truth I guess."

"If you had to be Krazy-Glued to any celebrity, who would it be and why?"

"Hm..Chris Pines. I like his voice and his face." Lyra answered, chuckling. She spun the bottle and it landed on Gabi. "Gabi, truth or dare?"

"Uh..dare?"

"I dare you to run down the beach topless!" Lyra exclaimed and Gabi shook her head. "Fine, spin the bottle and see who you get stuck in the closet with." She spun the bottle and Lyra watched it spin. It looked like it was being controlled by something and it landed on Cassius perfectly. Gabi's face went pink and Cassius stood up and stretched.

"Let's go." He helped her up and pulled her in the closet with him. Lyra looked around, and noticed Nate's espeon sitting beside her. However, Emilie also had her Espeon out, Sabrina had her abra out and Sakutaro's togekiss was sitting on a chair behind him. She couldn't pick which person had their pokemon control the bottle. Nate scratched her pokemon's chin and smiled at her, so Lyra decided to watch her extra carefully.

Once 7 minutes were up, Gabi came out with a small smile on her face as she sat next to Clair, who elbowed her excitedly. Cassius plopped down in his spot and watched as Gabi spun the bottle to pick the next person. It landed on Lucia, who picked truth, but chickened out of it and had to spin the bottle. It landed on Saturn and it made Lyra very suspicious. The chances of it landing on him were very unlikely. Someone had to be controlling it. Both of them went into the closet nervously and Lyra hoped Lucia wouldn't faint.

"Don't you think this is odd?" She whispered to Jo, who sat next to her.

"It's fate." Jo winked, laughing. Lyra shot her an odd look and turned her attention back to the game, where they decided to continue instead of wait for Lucia and Saturn's 7 minutes to be up. Cassius spun it and it landed on Nate, who groaned.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to go skinny dipping!"

"No way in hell." She growled, spinning the bottle. Lyra watched it as it spun swiftly around and around again, showing no signs of stopping. It looked like many different forces were acting on it and controlling it, like it couldn't decide who to land on. Gabi grabbed it and glared at everyone. She seemed to know what they were doing and wasn't happy with it.

"Let's start this over. Truth or dare, Nate?" She asked, keeping the bottle in her hand to make it clear she wasn't going to allow anymore cheating.

"Truth."

"Have you kissed anyone and if so, who?" Gabi asked, wanting to know if she had ever kissed Cassius. Brodie started laughing in the middle of his ping pong game with Tabitha and Nate put her head in her hands.

"Urg." She groaned as Lucia and Saturn slipped out of the closet, sitting back in their spots. Nate mumbled an answer.

"What?" Gabi asked, not hearing her. Nate took her head out of her hands and sighed.

"Brodie." She said, louder.

"What?!" Tabitha asked. "When? What the hell?"

"Why are you surprised?" Brodie asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Okay next person!" Nate shouted, spinning the bottle. "It was a long time ago let's forget it even happened."

"I know what I'm going to ask if I get you." Jo said, laughing as Nate glared at her. The bottle landed on Carlos and he looked at the bottle giving it a 'Are you freaking serious' look.

"Truth or Dare."

"Dare, chica." He smirked.

"Name all of the 7 dwarfs in 30 seconds, and the ones you don't name I get to write on you." Nate said and Proton pulled out his phone, setting the timer off the second Nate said go.

"Bashful, Doc..uh..grumpy, like you, hm..happy, sneezy, sleepy…and….." He trailed off, growing nervous as his time went down.

"Time's up." Proton announced. Nate grabbed a marker and hurried over to Carlos.

"Ha, you forgot dopey." She said, writing it on his forehead as Lyra snapped a picture. He looked at Nate, having some internal conflict within himself that Jo picked up on and told Lyra about when Nate went to sit down. Lyra just brushed it off as Jo being too into the game.

"It's washable." Nate said, laughing as she looked at him. He spun the bottle and it landed on Jo.

"Truth or dare?" He asked and Jo felt very safe saying dare. "Fine..hm..swap clothes, or just shirt and jacket since I doubt he can pull of your shorts, with Morty for 4 rounds." He declared and Jo felt so happy, but extremely embarrassed at the same time. The two disappeared into the closet to swap clothes and Lyra knew Jo must be in heaven. She got to wear Morty's shirt and scarf, how lucky was she? The two appeared later and Jo looked like she was on cloud nine as she wrapped the scarf around her. Morty tugged on her shirt, which was far too small for him, and her jacket that didn't fit at all.

Jo spun the bottle fast and it stopped on Sakutaro. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" He said bravely.

"Lemme draw a mustache on you." Jo jumped up, getting the marker from Nate, and approached Sakutaro without getting a yes or no from him. She drew a curly mustache on him and laughed. "You look good!"

"I always look good." He laughed, spinning the bottle. It landed on Emilie, and she refused to do the truth. The bottle was spun by her and it landed on Cheren. She jumped up and pulled him into the closet. Lyra looked to her espeon for the blame, but after Gabi got on to them for cheating, she had returned the pink pokemon to its pokeball, only leaving three people with their psychic types out. She doubted that it was Sabrina, but, it could have been Sakutaro or Nate.

Carlos spun the bottle and it landed on Cassius. He smirked. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

"I dare you to drink a tablesoon of hot sauce." Carlos said and even though Cassius didn't really like spicy things, he wasn't about to back down from a dare. Yes, it did result in his whole mouth burning and his face being bright red for the next 20 minutes, but, he did the dare, that's all that mattered.

The night ended an hour after that and Lyra and her group trudged home tired.

"Hey, Nate." Lyra said, who was walking with her Espeon far away from the shore. "Did you use espeon to get Gabi in the closet with Cassius?"

"Hm?" She asked, clearly hearing Lyra's question, but not wanting to answer. "No. I don't cheat."

"Nate, c'mon." Lyra sighed.

"Espeon." Nate called and held out her arm. The pokemon jumped gracefully onto it and then sat on Nate's shoulder. "Why help Gabi out?" Nate asked, scratching her pokemon's ear.

"To show her that you don't like Cassius so she won't hate you?" Lyra guessed.

"She'll hate me no matter what." Nate yawned and zipped up her hoodie. "Gotta go." She jogged over to her group, where Tabitha was questioning Brodie on why he kissed Nate.

"Did you have a good night?" Proton asked, startling her. "You should get used to me doing this."

"I know. Yes, I did. It was nice seeing everyone so happy with each other."

"Eh, don't think Carlos is happy with Nate right now." He said, looking over at Carlos, who was desperately trying to wipe the marker off of his forehead.

"Best night ever!" Jo skipped by them, wearing Morty's scarf still. They have swapped back shirts, but Morty decided to let her wear his scarf since she seemed to be enjoying it so much. "I love the beach!"

"This marker isn't coming off!" Sakutaro whined, running after Jo while he tried to wipe the mustache away.

"Dude, I think I have 3rd degree burns on my tongue." Cassius stuck out his tongue to Gabi and Shelly.

"Put it back in your mouth!" Gabi said, grossed out.

"You didn't think it was gross in the closet." He smirked and she grew embarrassed when Shelly looked at her. "Just kidding, we didn't do anything like that Shells, don't get your panties in a bunch."

"I feel like we know too much about each other now." Touya grumbled.

"You could have covered your ears." Touko held N's hand tightly. "If I get asked about my sex life in truth or dare, I have to answer."

"That's why we went back to playing darts after that." Minuet told her, smiling as she remembered Touya practically holding her as he taught her how to throw a dart.

"It was a pretty great night." Emilie walked by Lyra and Proton, heading for the other galactics.

"Of course it was, you got in the closet with Cheren." Lyra told her. "Which I find odd." She muttered, looking at Jo. "It's odd that Lucia got in the closet with Saturn too…" She said and watched Lucia as she talked to Saturn, which they had been doing all night.

"Let it go." Proton muttered. "If she wants to play matchmaker, let her."

"I will, but, just.." Lyra muttered. When Proton had to go in the closet, he didn't get to go in with Lyra! He went in with some random chick, which was not cool! If Jo was going to help everyone else get together, she better get Lyra in a closet with Proton!

"You alright?" Proton asked, wondering why Lyra went so silent.

"Just thinking." Lyra muttered.

"That never ends well." He sighed.

* * *

It was raining the next morning, pouring more like it, so they were all stuck in the house. Together. It wasn't so bad, since most of them slept in because they were out so late, but once they were all awake, Lyra knew it was going to be chaotic.

Of course, it started with her causing Sakutaro to hurry into her bathroom with Lucia right behind him because no one told her that 'father' was a trigger word for him.

"I feel so horrible!" She said into her pillow.

"You didn't know." Jo reassured her, patting her back. "It really only triggers him when you say it directly to him…"

"I'm a horrible person!"

"No you aren't!" Jo said. "You didn't know that his real father was abusive."

"I should have known!"

"Lyra, I didn't even know about it. How would you have known? He'll be okay, Lucia told us so. She's got him in the bathroom right now, calming him down. She'll handle it."

"I know…but.." Lyra felt awful.

"Just let them be along, c'mon, lets head downstairs." She pulled Lyra off of the bed and down the stairs, where a majority of the household was.

"Mornin'." Minuet waved to them as they entered the kitchen. She and Touya were in a battle of Connect 4. Touya was winning. "Silverware is in the two drawers' right of the dishwasher, plates and stuff are in the cabinets near the sink. Took us forever to find the stuff."

"Why didn't you ask Cassius?" Gabi asked, coming into the kitchen for breakfast.

"He went out surfing." Minuet shrugged, cheering when she beat Touya. The two started another game immediately. "Uh…hm…N and Touko are on the porch outside, watching the rain, Proton is in the living room, Archer and Saturn are playing chess. I think Courtney and Mars are in Mars' room, and Emilie decided to take Courtney's bed because Mars and Courtney were laughing too loud for her."

"Oh.." Gabi said, then froze. "He went out surfing?"

"Yeah. He said the waves were too good to pass up."

"Of course." Gabi said shaking her head. She dug around in the fridge, pulling out a pitcher of orange juice. "Do you two want some?"

"Yes please." Lyra and Jo said at the same time. She poured them all some juice and they sat down at the kitchen table.

"Is Nate still asleep?" Tabitha asked as he came into the kitchen for a drink.

"I haven't seen her." Touya said.

"That girl.." He grumbled, gulping down his drink. "If you hear screaming, it's her." He left the kitchen and went upstairs. They did hear someone yell, but, it sounded more like Emilie.

Carlos came in a few minutes later. He poured himself some water and gulped it down. "I saw Cassius out there. He looked like he was having fun."

"He's always having fun." Gabi said. "Where were you?"

"Jogging." Carlos shrugged as Nate trudged into the room. Carlos and her looked at each other for a few seconds, before he moved out of her way and left the kitchen.

"Weirdo." She grumbled staring after him.

* * *

"Okay everyone! Since it's raining out, we're sort of stuck inside.." Lyra announced to everyone in the living room. It took a while to gather everyone, but, she did it. "So I think we should watch movies and play video games and board games."

"Video games?" Gabi asked.

"I brought Super Smash Bros. Brawl." Minuet piped up.

"I'll play!" Gabi exclaimed, looking very excited.

"There you go!" Lyra cheered.

"I got Pitch Perfect." Emilie said. "We can watch in up in the rec room."

"Good. So, everyone, go play. But tonight we will all be watching movies together!"

* * *

"Take that Kirby!" Gabi muttered, clenching the controller in her hands.

"Harsh." Cassius groaned, seeing his player fly off the screen.

"That's why I died a while ago.." Touya shrugged, watching Gabi and Minuet go into sudden death mode, again.

* * *

"People just don't appreciate a good grooming." Courtney said as she, Mars, Sakutaro and Brodie played cards.

"Looking good is just as important as being strong." Brodie chimed in.

"Looking good means you know how to take care of yourself." Sakutaro added and Mars agreed. "I make sure my pokemon look great and can kick butt. Double trouble."

* * *

"You can't do that." Jupiter growled, glaring at Archer.

"Yes you can, it's right here in the rules." He replied, pulling out the rules for Monopoly. He, Jupiter, Saturn, and Lucia were all playing it.

"It's simple." Lucia told them. "He landed on it, none of us own it, he can buy it."

* * *

"So I said I didn't care." Shelly flipped her hair while Ariana flipped through her cosmo magazine while that sat in the kitchen. "He can go screw himself if he's going to talk to me like I'm some houndoom."

"You tell him."

* * *

"I think we should kiss." Carlos said.

"Sometimes I think I should do crystal meth, but then I think, eh, better not." Nate and Emilie said, all three quoting the movie.

"You guys like this movie I assume?" Lyra asked and they nodded their heads. Jo sat next to Lyra, who sat next to Proton, who sat next to Carlos, then Emilie, Nate, and then Tabitha. N and Touko had joined them for a few minutes, but then hurried off to N's room.

"So, you know how to work popcorn machines?" Lyra asked as Proton poured kernels into a popcorn maker Cassius had pulled out from a cabinet.

* * *

"My sister has a lot of sleepovers." He explained as the popcorn started to pop. The two were on popcorn duty, while Gabi and Touko were on drink duty.

"This is too much soda.." Touko grumbled, carrying two bottles into the living to set on the table that was in there so people could fill up their cups while they watched the movie.

"They just better pick a good movie." Gabi replied, following her.

"Are you going to sit next to me? Or did I talk too much during the other movies we watched upstairs?" Lyra asked.

"I'll sit next to you. At least you didn't quote the movie." He sighed. "You're wearing it?" He asked, noticing the Rocket pin that was pinned to her shorts. Lyra looked surprised that he noticed it.

"Oh, yeah. I didn't want to lose it, so I stuck it on my shorts. I'll find a safer place for it soon." She told him and carried a big bowl of popcorn into the living room. Proton smiled after her and carried a bowl of popcorn into the living room as well.

* * *

"Pew pew..pew pew pew." A voice murmured during a fight scene in the _Avengers_, the movie they decided to watch.

"Cassius." Nate said venomously, glaring at the boy who was sitting a few people down from her.

"Not me."

"Liar. You did it when we went and saw this movie in theaters!"

"Pew…pew pew.." Was heard a few moments later.

"Cassius." Nate said, warning him.

"That was Carlos."

"No it wasn't!" Carlos said, glaring at Cassius.

It got silent again. "Pew."

"Cassius."

"Okay that time it was me." Carlos said and was hit in the face with a pillow. Cassius laughed, but was also hit in the face with a pillow.

"Both of you, quiet." Lucia said, having been the one to hit them in the face with a pillow, they listened.

* * *

**You guys were expecting Nate to hit them with the pillows, right? Haha, plot twist. **

**Dudes I was just watching a commercial and a girl's name on it was Natalie Chem. That's so weird because that's Nate's name. Random. I tried to get every character in here a lot. Sorry if I tend to focus on certain characters, it's just because I know more about the character, so it's easier to write about them. **


	16. Chapter 16: Lessons in Drowning & Girls

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It's really helpful when you guys tell me what you thought about the story. If you thought something was funny,**** tell me****, if you like it when certain characters interact, ****tell me****. Make guesses on what will happen next or who will end up with who, etc. It's funny and helpful to read your reviews. They give me ideas and help me improve this story. If you don't review, I can't get better, and it will be a lose lose for the both of us. **

**I want to be able to create a great story you all can enjoy.**

* * *

"It'll be fine!" Cassius said, helping Gabi stand on the surf board. This was a horrible idea, she knew it. She shouldn't have let Cassius talk her into last night while they were in the closet, but she had a hard time saying no to the boy, especially when he put on his pouting face.

It was around 6am. Gabi refused to try and learn how to stand on a surf board, the most important part of surfing, in front of everyone. She fell into the water, for the 4th time, and leaned her head on the board when she got back to the top of the water. "Cassius."

"Don't give up now Gabi." He told her, standing by the board. "This is why we do this in shallow water, to make it easy to get back on it."

"I figured that.." She grumbled, climbing on. She couldn't complain much. She loved spending time with Cassius. He listened to her whenever she needed someone to talk to. He was always there for her, no matter what time it was or what he was doing. So, of course she got a crush on him. He was cute, funny, reliable and super patient, even as she fell off the surf board again. "Urg."

"Don't get frustrated." He helped her on again and she stood up, wobbling a bit before stabilizing herself. "See?"

"I got it!" She smiled, before losing her balancing and falling.

"Got ya." He caught her easily and held her bridal style.

"Thanks.." She mumbled, trying to remain calm. "Put me down, please." She looked up at him and felt her cheeks get a little warm. He was extremely adorable, with that smirk and his deep blue eyes. However, there was mischief in those eyes.

"Want me to put you down?" He asked with eyebrows raised. She regretted telling him that. "Okay!" He cheered and she squealed as he tossed her into the air and she made a _splash _in the water.

"Cassius!" She groaned, coming up for air. He laughed and she splashed him, catching him off guard. He coughed after getting a mouth full of water.

"Fine, I won't do it again." He said as Carlos jogged by, finishing up his morning jog. "Hey! Carlos!"

Carlos groaned, not wanting to talk to the boy, but turned around anyway. "What?"

"He's grumpy in the morning." Cassius murmured to Gabi. "You still wanna learn to swim today?"

"Sure." Carlos shouted back. No, he didn't want to learn how to swim today. Cassius already forced Nate to agree to it. He didn't want to spend any more time with Nate than he had to. He was already spending too much time around her and it was messing with his head, but Archer told him he needed to at least learn how to float, so he unhappily agreed. He turned back around and continued his jog.

"It's going to be so much fun teaching him how to swim." Cassius grumbled.

* * *

"We're going to check out the pier today." Saturn said to Mars and Jupiter, referring to him and Lucia. "Do you guys want to come?"

"Gotta work on my tan." Mars replied, eyeing Lucia.

"I need to finish my book." Jupiter told him. "Unless," She whispered. "You want us to come?"

"I would prefer you two not to come." He whispered back.

"Go get 'em!" Mars punched his arm, smirking at him as he glared at her and rubbed his arm.

"Thanks." He muttered, glaring at her before walking off with Lucia, heading out of the house.

"Oh, he got a date?" Emilie asked. "FINALLY, I was wondering when he was going to ask her to hang out or something."

"What are you doing today?" Mars asked as the doorbell rang.

"Going to watch Cassius try to teach Carlos and Nate how to swim." She said and headed towards the door opening it to reveal Lily.

"Hello!" She cheered, smiling at Emilie. "My name is Lily, uh, is Cassius here?"

"Come in Lil." Cassius said somewhere from the living room. Emilie moved away from the door so Lily could walk in. "Don't be nervous." He said, coming into the hallway.

"That's difficult to do when you have almost every single gang in this house." She muttered through clenched teeth, trying to come off as calm when she was truly freaked out. "Lyra!" Lily exclaimed, happy to see a friendly face.

"Hey Lily! Are you joining us by the pool today?" Lyra asked, approaching the two blondes. She was also going with Cassius, mostly as support to make sure the two didn't kill themselves or each other while they tried to swim.

"Yes. You know how Nate can be.." Lily said.

"How can I be?" Nate asked, shooting daggers at Cassius. "I don't want to learn how to swim."

"You need to."

"No, I don't." She argued. "He'll drown me." She said, looking at Carlos as he joined them.

"She'll drown me!" Carlos replied, crossing his arms.

"Neither of you will drown." Proton muttered, joining the group now. "Unless I decide to drown you."

"Let's go." Cassius pushed them all out of the house. He led them over to the beach house next door, his neighbor's house. He unlatched the gate, letting them all into the gated pool area, which hid the pool from any noisy people. "Okay, you two," He pointed at Carlos and Nate, "go ahead and get in. You need to get use to the water. Just stay in the shallow end. I'm going in to feed their pokemon. I might need some help from you four." He turned to everyone else, leading them inside.

Lyra looked around. It was huge! It had huge fish tanks where water pokemon from all over the world were swimming around. "Now you can see why I need some help." Cassius told them.

* * *

"You get in first." Nate said, staring down at the water.

"Why should I?" He asked, rolling his eyes. He really didn't want to be here right now.

"Misdreavous!" A voice shouted from behind them. Both of them shouted, startled by the pokemon, and fell into the water.

"What the hell!?" Carlos asked as Nate clung onto him. Luckily, they landed in the 5 foot deep section of the pool, so Carlos was able to stand up just fine, but Nate didn't care and was currently hanging off of Carlos' shoulders, trying to stay out of the water. "What are you doing?!"

"Too deep!" She exclaimed. "I'm 5'4! 4 inches is not enough of my body out of the water!"

"Let go!" He told her. She pulled herself up more, wrapping her legs around his torso. "Nate!"

"Carlos, please!" She begged. "I'm not tall enough! I hate water!" She felt her grip on him slip and she desperately tried to hold on. Carlos groaned, thinking she was being pretty over dramatic, but held her bridal style, like he had seen Cassius do earlier in the morning. Unlike Gabi, Nate wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "Don't drop me."

"I'm not…" He muttered, his face getting red. "Can you not be that close?" He asked. He wanted space from Nate, not her right up next to his face. Granted, it felt nice, but he really couldn't think correctly at the moment. Maybe he should just drop her? "Are you okay?" He asked, hearing her sniff.

"No, I fucking hate water!" She cried out.

"Are you crying?"

"No!" She said, but it was pretty obvious she was. He tried to move, but Nate shouted at him. "Don't move!"

"I'm not!" He told her, then softened his voice. He didn't know how he was supposed to handle this. He had never seen Nate cry, he was pretty sure she was incapable of any crying until a few seconds ago. He could hear her sniff and try to stop crying. "Relax, it's be fine."

"Just don't drop me." She repeated.

"I promise, I won't. When have I ever let down a damsel in distress?"

"If you drop this damsel she'll be damn well sure she makes you drown with her." Nate threatened, but it only came out as a whisper.

"That was a lot." Lily said, heading towards the backdoor, Proton right next to her. Cassius sent them to check on Carlos and Nate while he, Lyra and Emilie finished the last tank. "….How come I always find you two in positions like this?" Lily asked, seeing Carlos standing in the pool with Nate in his arms.

"It is not what it looks like." Carlos said, now embarrassed.

"So, you don't have Nate in your arms in the middle of the pool?" Proton asked as Lyra joined them outside. "And you said the same thing last time."

"Lily! Be a good friend and get me out of here!" Nate cried.

"I've tried to move, but she just yells at me." Carlos told them.

"You gotta do it slowly." Lily said.

"Okay.." Carlos murmured, slowly moving his legs. This was awful. He was enjoying this. He wasn't supposed to be enjoying this. He finally got to the stairs and sat her down on the side of the pool, even though it took a while because she refused to let go. "Look, I got you to safety."

"Thanks." She mumbled, her cheeks and eyes red from crying. "I didn't cry."

"I know you didn't. But I did save you." He smirked as she rubbed her eyes, trying to glare at him, but it wasn't as effective as she wanted it to be. She just ended up looking like a kid. "Are you really that scared of water?"

"Yes, I am." She said, it still coming out like she was crying. "It's scary. My pokemon can't come and save me without getting themselves hurt."

"That's why we're going to learn how to at least float today." Carlos told her, hoping she was calming down. Why wasn't Lily doing this? They were probably watching him. He knew Proton definitely was. "And I'll be here to save you again if you need me to."

"What happened?" Emilie said, coming out of the house. She saw Proton and Lily watching Carlos, who was standing in the pool, talking to Nate who was sitting on the side, looking like she was crying.

"Shush.." Lily mumbled. "We don't know. It's probably not best to ask her right now. We should ask her later when we're alone."

"Misdreavous~" The pokemon chimed, stealing Lyra's hat once again. Cassius came out of the house, barely dodging misdreavous as she flew by.

"Misdreavous!" Nate shouted. "That pokemon is a pain in my ass.."

"She just likes to cause trouble." Carlos said. "And try to kill us…"

"What the hell happened with them?" Cassius asked.

"I'll find out later and let you know." Lily said, silencing him. "You're going to have an even more difficult time trying to teach her how to swim now."

* * *

"They really can't swim." Lyra mumbled to Proton, who was stretched out on a beach chair, almost asleep.

"Carlos sinks like a rock." He told her as Cassius looked like he was about to punch someone. Everything he said, Carlos had a smart remark for. "And he really doesn't like Cassius. I think he's just jealous of him or something."

"Ah." Lyra said, watching Nate hold onto a floaty for dear life.

"This is still better than sitting on a loud beach." Proton sighed. "I don't mind listening to them fight. I just tune it out."

"How? They're so vulgar." Lyra said.

"Well, we're all teenagers, in gangs." Proton said, lifting his sunglasses to look at her. "I'm surprised they've been restraining themselves. Sometimes you have to cuss to get your meaning across."

"You two!" Emilie shouted, putting her book down. "Shut the hell up! I know you're trying not to drown, but do it quietly!"

"This is bullshit!" Nate growled. "I can't learn this!"

"See?" Proton shrugged. "Just sit back and relax, or go jump in the pool with Lily." Lyra decided to let Proton get some nap time and ran to jump into the pool. She cannonballed in and made a huge splash. She came up for air and saw Nate holding onto Carlos again, looking scared out of her mind.

"D-Don't do that!" She shouted at Lyra, letting go of Carlos slowly. "Sorry…" She mumbled to Carlos, extremely embarrassed that she had held onto him.

"It's fine.." He said, looking equaling embarrassed.

"Lyra." Nate said, trying to change the subject. "Do you want misdreavous?"

"Uh, what?" Lyra asked, surprised by the question.

"She likes you, a lot. Plus, she never listens to me and she'll listen to you. I can't handle it anymore. She's yours if you want her." Nate told her.

"Well…uh…sure." Lyra nodded her head. Having misdreavous as her pokemon could be pretty fun! Or horrible...

"Thank goodness.." Nate muttered, grabbing another floaty. "You hear that misdreavous? Lyra's your new trainer!" The pokemon cheered and spun around in the air. "Don't have to be so happy about it…"

* * *

"Let's have a girls night out!" Lyra exclaimed, shutting the door to their hallway so the boys couldn't hear her.

"What?" Shelly asked, coming out of her room. "A girls night out?"

"That could be….fun.." Courtney said, blowing a bubble with her gum.

"Yeah, we can make ourselves look fabulous and go have fun!"

"Eh, I'm hanging with Lily tonight…" Nate grumbled, poking her head out of her bedroom door.

"Invite her along! We're going out!"

* * *

"I don't want to wear that." Nate stated as Lyra went through Nate's suitcase. "You wear it."

"Nate." Lily shook her head. "Look, go all fashionista now, please. I know you don't like dressing up, but you like dressing other people up."

"So just dress me up! I didn't bring anything super cute…" Lyra mumbled. "And…your mom obviously packed this bag.." Which, she did. It was filled with cute skirts, shirts, blouses, wedges, sandals, and shorts, all neatly packed and organized. Lyra had a feeling Nate was the one who organized everything. "Make all of us look fabulous!"

Nate sighed, but went through her suitcase, picking an outfit out for Lyra and doing her hair, while Lily went on and on and ON about all the fun things they could do tonight.

"Mini golfing?" Gabi asked, overhearing them.

"No way." Nate shook her head, motioning Gabi to come into the room. "Let me do your hair."

"What? No." Gabi said, but Lily pulled her into the room anyway, forcing her to sit on one of the beds.

"Stay still." Nate said as she brushed through the girl's blonde and blue hair. "I have a denim skirt that will go much better with that shirt."

"Here it is! Oh, and these sandals will match perfectly. Do her hair in a loose braid, it will make her blue highlights stand out!" Lily suggested, happy to help. "Cassius will think you're gorgeous! Not that he doesn't think that on a daily basis. You don't need clothes and makeup to impress a boy."

"She knows that." Nate told Lily, braiding Gabi's hair. "But it will get his attention. You know how…dense he can be sometimes."

"You think?"

"We know." Lily said and pushed Gabi into the bathroom to put the skirt on. Lyra came into the room shortly after she changed into her outfit.

"Are these shorts too short on me?" She asked, pulling down the white shorts. Nate rolled her eyes and walked over to her, pulling them up again and straightening out her red top.

"No, they're perfect."

"I think this skirt is too short." Gabi said, coming out of the bathroom. She looked nervous and tugged on the denim skirt a bit.

"Don't say it out loud, it's too embarrassing." Nate sighed, with a smile on her face as she looked at Gabi, who looked fabulous in the outfit.

"We're too good!" Lily exclaimed, high fiving Nate.

* * *

"We're going out!" Minuet declared, hurrying down the stairs with some of the girls following, the others still getting ready. Her hair bounced, curled to perfection by Nate. "Girls night out."

"What?" Cassius asked, looking at them from the couch. "What do we do then?" He eyed Gabi, who quickly followed Minuet.

"Boy things?" Jo questioned and trotted down the stairs. She skipped into the kitchen, still wearing Morty's scarf (Nate had somehow came up with an outfit that actually matched it). She saw Carlos sipping on a soda and she smirked. "So, what's up?"

"Almost died today." Carlos said. "You want a soda?"

"Ah, nah. You know, if you want information, the way to get it is to give me information, not be a suck up." She chuckled and Carlos groaned. "Cough up the secrets buddy, and I can see what information I have that can help you. What do you want to know?"

"Does anyone have a crush on me?"

"Why? You bored of chasing Courtney around?"

"Shut up." Carlos grumbled, crossing his arms. He was tired. It was a long and draining day.

"Fineeeee. I just need some information from you." Jo said. "And you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Do I really have to say it? It's so embarrassing."

"I knewwww it! You look at her so differently than you did before!" Jo squealed. "Let me guess, you think it's because you've been spending so much time with her? Right? I mean, 'cause why would you suddenly like Nate? Right?" She said sarcastically, which Carlos didn't pick up on.

"Shush!" He growled, not wanting anyone to hear her. "Exactly, it's definitely because I've been forced to spend time with her, a lot. Plus, it's a super tiny crush, it'll be gone soon."

"Whatever." Jo rolled her eyes. "You like Nate for other reasons, don't be so embarrassed, she's not bad. You just have a thing for those Magma girls, don't you?"

"Please stop." Carlos face palmed, wanting off of the topic.

"Killjoy. I'll see what I can find out for you tonight. Have fun!" She waved, leaving the kitchen happily, knowing she was right.

* * *

"I think we should just leave them." Nate said, swiftly coming down the stairs with Lily right beside her. "It's been an hour. I'm seriously hungry."

"Volk and Flint said we can still go out to eat with them if we want to." Lily suggested, getting hungry too. Shelly and Ariana were taking all day to get ready, okay, like, an hour, but still. "They can drive the four-wheelers right down here and get us."

"I'm not getting on one of those things in a skirt." Nate shook her head.

"You're not leaving anyway!" Lyra told them, putting her hands on her hips. "Girls night, not ditch us and go hang out with the boys night."

"I had a very traumatic day." Nate said.

"What happened?" Tabitha asked, looking at her from the couch.

"I had to learn how to swim. It's was awful Tabitha!" She whined, going over to him. "I almost died. Multiple times. I can't believe you didn't get me out of it."

"Can you swim now? I can't believe you didn't tell me you kissed Brodie."

"You're still mad about that?" Brodie rolled his eyes.

"We have an agreement to be honest with each other." Tabitha told the both of them.

"Maxie just says that so we don't lie to him." Courtney said, coming down the stairs with Ariana and Shelly right behind her.

"No, I didn't learn to swim and if you want honesty I kissed Brodie three times, not one time." Nate walked off into the hallway as Tabitha glared at Brodie, who shrugged.

"Oh! Do tell." Lily said, following Nate.

"Oh! I wanna hear those stories!" Minuet laughed, following the girls out the front door, leaving the boys to their own devices. "Later boys!"

"…Pizza?" Cassius said, and they all nodded in agreement.

* * *

"So how was your date with Saturn?" Mars asked as she twirled the straw in her glass. They were all sitting in a big round booth in a restaurant that was along the board walk. Luckily, they all fit into the booth and its shape made it easier for them to all talk.

"My date?" Lucia asked.

"…..Yeah.." Mars said, slowly. "Uh, duh. He's so into Lucia, can you not tell?"

"No." Her face was red, but she looked happy.

"Well, he is, just FYI." Mars sipped her drink. "He doesn't keep interest in people for long, but he constantly talks to you and talks about you."-Jupiter nodded her head at this-"It's cute but kind of annoying."

"How cute." Lyra mused, smiling. "You two are really cute together."

"It's because Sakutaro and I got them in the closet together!" Jo smiled too. "Did he kiss you?"

"On the check." Lucia said and everyone 'Awah'd.

"That's so sweet. Wait, did Cassius kiss you?" Shelly turned to Gabi, wanting to know.

"It was super quick. He was talking about surfing, then he said, 'oh yeah, I need to kiss you, how could I forget?' And kissed me. I barely had time to comprehend it because the door opened a few seconds after it." Gabi said, sighing.

"Maybe he was worried you were going to reject him?" Lily guessed. "It seems like something Cassius would do. Like, when he goes to concerts, he runs them by his parents so fast at the very end of his calls to them and then tells them bye so they can't say no to it. That's how he and Nate get permission to go to concerts half of the time."

"It's a good method." Nate shrugged. "So don't think too much on it. Cassius is like that." Gabi nodded her head and stayed silent.

"So, when did you kiss Brodie?" Minuet asked. "I seriously want to know because I can't imagine you two kissing…"

"First time was accident, second was spin the bottle, third time was him being a douche." Nate groaned.

"We'll ask Brodie later, he's better at stories. He dresses up like the characters in it and makes it a show." Courtney told the table.

"What if he's doing that with the guys!?" Nate questioned, panic all over her face.

* * *

"Shoot him!" Carlos shouted and Cassius glared at him.

"What the hell do you think I'm doing?" He shouted back, dodging an attack in the game.

"We win!" Saturn high fived Sakutaro

"Damn." Carlos grumbled, blaming it all on Cassius. They were forced to team up with the person they were bunking with. No one else had a problem with it except for Carlos because he did not like Cassius and Cassius did not like Carlos.

"Hold on." Brodie said, hearing his phone ring. "Ah, hey sweetie."

"DON'T CALL ME SWEETIE." Nate's voice shouted through the phone. "What are you doing?"

"Playing video games. Eating pizza. What are you doing?" He nodded his head as she spoke. "You're worried I'm going to tell them? No, I wouldn't do that to you. Enjoy your evening, I'll see you later, sweetie." He hung up before she could answer him. "She hates it when I give her pet names."

"She'll punch you later." Tabitha said, biting into a piece of pizza.

"It's worth it. So, you wanna hear about the three times I kissed her?"

* * *

"He's telling them right now, I know it." Nate groaned.

"No worries." Lily patted her back. "You can spend the night with me tonight if you need to. I don't want you going back there and punching him…"

"Yeah...spend the night with Lily. I can't explain to Maxie why Brodie has a broken nose.." Courtney said.

"So, put on a show and tell us about the kisses." Minuet said.

"Don't you wanna talk about Touya?" Nate questioned.

"I buried him in sand again today and we walked on the beach."

"He takes forever." Touko rolled her eyes. "He's such a dork. If he doesn't ask you out soon, I might punch him."

"Do it soon." Jo said. "I hate waiting and I want to see them together."

"We'd be adorable, right?" Minuet asked and everyone agreed that they would. "I know."

"Wait, so if you're trying to get everyone together, who is going to get you and Morty together?" Lily asked.

"I've got it taken care of!" Jo smiled. "I'm too cute for him to resist."

* * *

**I just love couples. They're so cute they make me wanna punch someone.**

**Everything I know about romance and dating I learned from romantic comedy movies. So, I know nothing. I try. **


	17. Chapter 17: Enter Attractions

**Yo Everyone! Before I get into the chapter, just letting you know that Edicedia has drawn a picture of some of the characters (Proton, Carlos, Nate, Morty, Gabi, Cassius, Emilie, Sakutaro, Jo, and Lyra) doing their dares/truths that they did in the last chapter. The link is on her profile, so go check it out!**

* * *

"

* * *

Good morning guys!" Lyra greeted the few people that were in the kitchen eating breakfast. "I have great plans for today!"

"Great." Courtney stretched and sipped her glass of orange juice.

"It'll be a lot of fun, you guys will love it, promise." Lyra said with confidence and sat down at the table. "Everyone should be up soon."

"Yeah, we didn't stay up late, so they'll be up soon." Brodie said and flipped open the newspaper to read it. Lyra nodded her head and sat in silence for a few moments. The Magmas were pretty silent. Tabitha just drank his coffee and stared out the window, Courtney sipped her orange juice, and Brodie flipped through the newspaper.

"Mornin'." Cassius greeted, coming into the kitchen to make himself breakfast. "You hungry?"

"Yes!" Lyra exclaimed. She was hoping someone would make breakfast, but it seemed the Magmas didn't eat breakfast.

"Figured. You have fun last night?" He asked, starting to cook breakfast.

"Oh, tons." She replied. "Right Gabi?"

"Right." Gabi said, sitting next to Lyra. Her hair was wavy from the braid last night and she rubbed her eyes, trying to fully wake up. Shelly strolled in while Lyra and Cassius ate their eggs he cooked for them. She and Tabitha got into an argument, of course, then Touko and the rest of the plasmas trailed down. Saturn, Jupiter and Mars came in from their early morning walk on the beach, as did Sakutaro and Lucia who joined them on the walk. Ariana came down shortly after, and then Proton and Archer joined them in the kitchen after finishing their chess game. Carlos came downstairs a little while later, his hair sticking up everywhere in a messy, but somehow not messy way.

"So! N and I decided that we needed a little more bonding time, other than beach time, so we decided to sign all of us up to volunteer at a pokemon breeding center!"

"What?" Jo groaned, sliding into the kitchen after finish her video game. "Dude."

"We're going to play with baby pokemon." N said simply. Most of the girls cheered and some of the boys groaned. "They need help learning how to interact with humans."

"Sweet!" Minuet said, excited.

"We'll be going around 11, so you have two hours to eat breakfast and get ready." Lyra explained. "Oh yeah, I should call Nate and tell her."

"She won't answer." Brodie said, almost laughing. "She's not an early riser. Plus, she's unpleasant during the morning."

"Well she needs to wake up now and get back down here." Lyra searched through her phone, but she didn't have Lily's or Volkner's or Flint's numbers.

"My phone is dead right now, so I can't call Lily." Cassius shrugged. Lyra sighed and everyone went on to get breakfast or go back to what they were doing before.

"Carlos, you're going jogging, right?" Lyra asked, seeing the boy stretch and tie his sneakers.

"….Si." He replied hesitantly.

"Can you go get Nate?" She asked and he groaned.

"No."

"Please?"

"No." He was trying to avoid Nate. Not go wake her up. Besides, he didn't want to be around Volkner anyway.

"Carlos, go get her." Proton commanded, giving the boy a sharp glare.

"Sheesh, fine…" He grumbled, going out the door.

"Thank you." Lyra smiled at Proton and he just nodded his head.

"Just be firm with him and give him a glare." He shrugged, picking a piece of bacon off of her plate. She pouted him as he swiped another piece of bacon, but he just smirked and ate it.

"I can't wait to see all the cute pokemon." Touko chimed, smiling at N.

"I wonder if they have the starter forms of our pokemon?" Touya asked.

"That'd be really cute." Sakutaro added.

* * *

Lyra looked at the watch on her wrist and looked out the back window, scanning the beach for Carlos or Nate. "Where are they?"

"Maybe he got lost?" Courtney shrugged, chewing a piece of gum, as usual.

"They're only like, a 20 minute walk away, and that'd if you walk real slow." Lyra replied and pulled out her phone.

"_Hello?" _Carlos answered after a few rings.

"Where are you?" Lyra asked.

"_Eating breakfast with Lily, Volkner, Flint and Nate." _

"You need to be here! We're leaving soon!"

"_But we just started eating and I'm starving. They have cheesecake Lyra. I'm weak."_

"He's a goner then." Ariana said, rolling her eyes. "That boy would do anything for cheesecake."

"Fine, let me give you the address of the place and you guys can meet us there, alright?"

"_Yeah." _He said sounding like he was eating. There was a whooshing sound and a two people arguing for a few moments.

"_It's me. Tell me the address. Carlos will forget it." _ Nate said, shushing Carlos. _"Can Lily come? She really….really wants to come."_ Lyra could hear Lily in the background, begging to go.

"Of course she can. See you three soon."

* * *

"Look at all the baby pokemon!" Lyra exclaimed as they entered the room.

"If you have the evolutionary forms of any of them, you can let them out. They need to learn how to interact with humans and what they'll be one day." A worker said before shutting the door and leaving them with the pokemon. There was a large sliding glass door that led out to a large grassy area, where more younger pokemon were playing.

"Shinx!" Emilie exclaimed, picking it up and holding it to Cheren's face. The boy had come by to see if Emilie wanted to go to the bookstore with him, since no one wanted to go with him at his beach house, but Lyra pulled him into the house and he was forced to come here.

"It's cute." He said, adjusting his glasses.

"Come on out Ninetails." Sakutaro said as a vulpix ran by. Courtney and Lucia also released their ninetails and the three were soon swarmed by baby vulpixs.

"Phi." Gabi called out her Gardevoir so it could play with the many ralts running around.

"How cute…" Cassius said, scratching a skitty's ear. His skitty came out of it's pokeball and jumped on the young skitty. "Shit…skitty…which one are you..?" He asked, trying to find his skitty. "Skitty." Cassius said, grabbing his skitty. The young skitty sent an attack Cassius' way and he was hit with it.

"Are you okay?" Gabi asked and Cassius stared at her before letting go of skitty and hugging Gabi, hearts in his eyes. "What is wrong with you?"

"Uh oh.." Courtney said. "The skitty knows attract!"

"Shit." Tabitha said, getting behind his Camerupt for protection. "Don't let it hit you!"

"What do I do?" Gabi said, enjoying Cassius' hug but still worried about him.

"It'll wear off.." Shelly said and was hit by the attack. "Tabitha!" She cheered, the male being the first person she saw after the attack hit her. She glomped him happily and he looked like he was ready to kill her.

* * *

"So, is Brodie a good kisser?" Carlos asked.

"I don't want to talk about this." Nate said, her face red.

"He said you were a good kisser."

"Gah shut up shut up shut up!" She exclaimed, hiding her face in her hands.

"She gets embarrassed easily by things like that." Lily explained. "He told you guys about the kisses? I want to know the stories behind them."

"Look here's the room they're in." Nate changed the topic and opened the door. "Oh shit." She said, looking at everyone in chaos, trying to dodge the skitty's attack while trying to knock it out with their pokemon's attacks.

"What's going on?" Carlos asked as Mars was hit with attract and held onto Archer with hearts in her eyes.

"Attract." Lily declared. "We should leave."

"We gotta stop it." Nate said, calling out her blaziken.

"Ah!" Lyra exclaimed, hit by the attack and holding onto Proton. "Proton!" She smiled at him and the male tried to get her off, but she held on tight.

"Don't act like you hate it." Carlos joked and Proton threw a toy ball at the boy's head.

"Mars, Shelly, Cassius, and Lyra has been hit. Touya too." Proton said as Touya latched onto Minuet. "Not like she's complaining about him holding on to her though." Lyra nuzzled against Proton's side and he didn't know what to do at all. He was enjoying it, but, he shouldn't be.

"There should be a flute in Cassius' bag that can stop it. He carries it around in case his skitty decides to use the attack." Lily said, looking around the room for the bag.

"Hurry!" Tabitha said, pushing Shelly off of him.

"This is funny though.." Carlos laughed at Tabitha's pained expression, happy to see the male uncomfortable.

"Move!" Nate grabbed onto his jacket and pulled him out of the way for the attack. "I do not need you all up on Tabitha." She rolled her eyes and searched for the bag. "Blaziken, ya see it?

"Blaze." He said, shaking his head.

"I'm enjoying this!" Minuet shouted. "A few more minutes!"

"A few more minutes and we'll all be hit!" Ariana shouted, dodging an attack. N was now holding onto Saturn while Touko tried to pull him off with the help of Lucia.

"This is ridiculous!" Sakutaro shouted, hurrying outside to get out of the way of the attacks. Jo ran out with him, not wanting to be in the mess.

"Found it!" Nate said, kneeling down to grab the bag and open it.

"Skitty!" The pokemon cheered, staring at Nate. The girl froze.

"….Someone…" She said through clenched teeth. "Help."

"Uh.." Carlos said, backed in a corner with two skitties staring him down. "Can't at the moment.."

"Skitty!" It attacked Nate right as she got a hold of the flute. She dropped it and jumped on Brodie.

"Brodie~!"

"Oh wow, this is how I got the first kiss!" Brodie said and was hit in the head with a rubber ball, thrown by Carlos.

"Blaziken, grab the flute!" Lily called out. The pokemon grabbed it and tossed it to Carlos, who blew in it swiftly. Everyone groaned, looking at who they were attached too.

"What the hell…?" Cassius asked, rubbing his head. "I'm sorry!" He told Gabi, backing away quickly embarrassed. "You're okay, right?"

"What…?" Touya asked, letting go of Minuet.

"Not again!" Nate shouted, getting off of Brodie, who sat up and shrugged. "How embarrassing.."

"Oh no!" Shelly let go of Tabitha with a disgusted look on her face.

"…I'm so sorry." Lyra let go of Proton with a bright red face. "I'm really sorry I did not mean to get all in your personal space."

"It's…fine.." Proton mumbled, just as red as her.

"You are so welcomed." Carlos said, holding the flute in his hand and glaring down at the skitty who caused all the trouble.

"Thank you." Everyone said at once.

"Is everything going okay in here?" The worker returned after hearing all the yelling. "…Please don't tell me the skitty used attract again."

"Yes." Lucia said.

"That's it, all of you, come with me." The worker ordered, and the skittys followed her out the door.

"Not you!" Cassius grabbed his skitty and returned her to her pokeball.

They all, awkwardly, went back to playing with the baby pokemon, in almost complete silence. Lyra could barely look at Proton. It was far too embarrassing. She was practically cuddling him! This turned out absolutely horrible! "Do you guys want to go to the pier?"

"Yes!" Everyone said at once. They all left the center and headed down the boardwalk towards the pier. It had food stalls, game stalls, rides, fishing spots, and even a few restaurants. They picked one at random and went there for lunch. Morty was there and joined them, much to Jo's pleasure. Lily saw Flint, and quickly hurried off to be with him.

"She's reallllyyy into him, isn't she?" Lyra asked, taking a bite of her French fry she stole off of Proton's plate, like he had done earlier at breakfast.

"Yeah…but he's a good guy, I approve of him." Nate shrugged and sipped her drink, watching them as they walked down the pier together. "As long as she's happy, I'm happy."

"And if he breaks her heart, well, we have to break him." Cassius said and Nate agreed. "But he won't."

"How do you know?" Shelly asked. "He could."

"Be positive." Cassius said, rolling his eyes. "Love can actually turn out, you know, good and not horrible. Not everyone gets their heart broken in a relationship."

They continued eating their food, some still unable to look at others, still embarrassed about what happened in the breeding center. They paid and left, Lyra hoped they could improve the day by having fun at the pier.

"Ow!" Minuet cried out, tripping over an uneven board.

"Are you okay?" Touya asked, crouching down to be at her eye level.

"I think I hurt my ankle.." She rubbed it and sighed. "I wanted to ride some of the rides!"

"Just climb on my back!" Touya exclaimed, smiling at her. "I'll carry you around, I don't mind." He told her and helped her up, surprising everyone as he kept his pace with them as they walked. "Told ya!"

"Uh..thank you." Minuet smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Isn't she lucky?" Sakutaro asked and Lyra nodded her head. They looked so happy together as they joked and laughed, it was downright adorable.

"Let's ride this!" Touya shouted, hurrying to get in line for the scrambler. They all piled in line and watched as the ride spun around quickly. It really looked like a lot of fun and Lyra was so excited by the time they go to the front of line.

"You two?" The worker asked, pointing at Proton and her. "Smallest gets on the outside." He instructed and Lyra pulled Proton onto the ride with her.

"Wonder why I have to sit on the outside?" Lyra asked as the ride started.

She figured it out as she was pushed into Proton's side as the ride spun. It was impossible for her to try and move, they were spinning too fast. Cassius was in front of them with Shelly and Gabi. He was being smashed, since he was the biggest, against the inside of the cart they were in. Shelly and Gabi looked like they were having tons of fun though. Behind them, Saturn was smashed against the side of the cart, Lucia and Mars to blame. Lyra hoped she wasn't smashing Proton, but he looked like he was having plenty of fun.

Of course he was having fun, Lyra was pushed up against him. As much as he didn't really want to admit, he liked the girl, a lot. She was funny, cute, persistent, and knew how to take a joke. She also seemed to understand everyone and got along with all of them. That really amazed him. He tried to be mean to her, but he just couldn't do it. He didn't even try anymore, since it was so useless.

She seemed so into everyone's happiness. All she wanted was everyone to be happy, and when they were, she was happy too. She was so kind hearted, he wondered why she even wanted to hang out with such horrible people like themselves. He figured it was because of what the bosses told her and made her do, but, she wasn't even talking about it or giving them riddles to do anymore. Proton didn't even think she was keeping score.

However, he didn't really care too much. He enjoyed spending time with her, so he wasn't going to bring it up. He was relieved when the ride ended, because he was getting pretty dizzy. Many of them stumbled off the ride, Minuet climbed back onto Touya's back, and they went back to walking down the pier.

"Hey!" Jo stopped them all, pointing at a game stall. "That's a Chikorita plushie!" She exclaimed, getting excited. "I need it!"

"Want me to get it for you?" Morty offered and she practically dragged him over to it. "What do I have to do?"

"Knock over three sets of milk jugs!" The worker said, lining up a few balls for Morty to throw. Morty paid the man a few dollars and started to throw. He missed the first try, but hit the rest of them. "What do you want?"

"That chikorita plushie, please." Morty said and took the doll from the man and handed it over to Jo.

"Oh my gosh.." She said, holding it tightly against her chest. "T-Thank you so much…." She looked so flustered, Proton almost laughed. "This is so awesome!"

"Well you'll have to win me something at the next stall, got it?" Morty smirked, making Jo laugh.

"Cheren." Emilie muttered, staring at the game stall. "I need that Audino plush."

"Do you?" He questioned.

"Yes. You have a good arm, I've seen you throw your pokeballs during battles. Please. Please. Please. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" She whined, holding onto his arm until he gave it.

"Okay okay.." He grumbled, going to play the game. He won and handed the doll over to Emilie, who hugged it and then him, making him blush.

"Too adorable." Lyra squealed next to Proton. She had a huge smile on her face.

"You're not going to snap pictures of this?" Proton asked and the girl pulled out her camera.

"I totally forgot!" She said, snapping few pictures.

"Why do you want to take so many pictures?"

"I've never really gone out and done stuff with tons of people before. It's usually only been Dawn and May and I, and I couldn't post pictures of us over and over again on poke'face, and I couldn't keep getting them developed. They all looked the same. Now though, I have pictures with all of my new friends. I'll never have the same boring old photo ever again with you guys around." Lyra explained. "My mom can finally fill up that huge picture frame she has with all of these pictures. She'll love showing my grandparents how many friends I made."

"You did make quite a few.." Proton mumbled, looking at all of them. "What's your favorite picture?"

"The one of you and your slowpoke." Lyra smiled, remembering the picture of the two napping.

"What?!" He asked, he didn't remember that picture! She laughed it off, patting his shoulder. He crossed his arms and sighed, but didn't press it further. They continued to walk and Jo stopped at the next game stall, winning a haunter plush for Morty, who was actually surprised that she got him something.

"Aw…that's a cute dratini scarf…" Lucia said, looking at the game and trying to figure out if she could come up with a formula.

"Do you want it?" Saturn asked her.

"Is everyone getting something?" Proton mumbled.

"It's adorable." Lyra elbowed him.

"Do you want something?" Proton asked, looking down at her.

"Oh, no, it's okay! I don't wanna bother you. I'll win myself something when I see a cute plush." Lyra said, trying not to look too excited. Yes, she would love for Proton to win her something, but, she could win something for herself. Courtney got a ninetails plushie and Shelly got a sealo belt all by themselves. Sakutaro won himself a cool empoleon mask and Touko got a necklace with pokeball on it.

"Suit yourself." Proton said, but he knew she was going to see something she wanted and he would end up winning it for her. Mars and Courtney hurried over to a shop to pick out jewelry, dragging Sakutaro along for an opinion on the things they planned to buy, Touko pulled N off to the ferris wheel, and Touya jogged over to another gamestall to win Minuet an absol plush. The others were following at a leisurely pace, not feeling like rushing like Touya always was.

"Urg…being surrounded by water is horrible." Nate grumbled as they walked further out onto the pier, though it was incredibly stable and held up by steel pillars.

"You could roll a 6 ton tank onto this thing and it still wouldn't break." Tabitha said. "Relax."

"When has that ever worked on her?" Brodie asked and both males received glares from the blonde, who crossed her arms.

"Wow.." Gabi stopped at game stall, looking at a long milotic scarf. It was thin, so you can wear it even in hot weather, and was all the colors of a milotic.

"Want it?" Cassius said, either though he was already paying the guy for the darks and aiming them at the balloons as he said this. "I'll get it for ya."

"Y-You don't have to!"

"Too late!" Cassius chuckled, popping the balloons with ease. "My gramps always kicks my ass at darts, can you believe that?" He asked, popping the 5th balloon. "Bam!" He exclaimed, handing her the scarf.

"T-thanks.." She said, putting it on happily.

"You look so cute!" Lyra told her. Gabi blushed, but showed a small smile.

"I'll have to win you something." Gabi said to Cassius, who just shrugged.

"Nah, no worries. Though, if you find something to put on skitty so I'll be able to tell which one she is in a pack of skitties, I wouldn't say no to it."

* * *

Jo returned to Lyra's side after a while of running around with Morty. "So, how are the couples doing?"

"Extremely well…I'm surprised." Lyra whispered. "Gabi got something from Cas, Touya got multiple plushies for Minuet, Emilie looks happy with the audino plush Cheren won her, and Saturn got Lucia something too."

"Awah, perfection! What about Carlos and Nate?"

"….What?" Lyra asked, confused. "Uh.."

"You're so behind." Jo rolled her eyes. "It's obvious he likes her. He thinks its because they've been spending tons of time together and he's sort of in denial, but it's fate." Jo explained.

"But Nate likes Tabitha..?"

"Doubt it. She didn't even bat an eyelash when she saw Shelly all over Tabitha in the breeding center or when they got into that argument at lunch. I think she just finally gave up on him." Jo mumbled as Nate eyed them. "Which works out perfectly now. We just gotta get her and Carlos together, then seal the deal with all of the couples!"

"….you want the impossible..?" Lyra questioned. "He doesn't even want to talk to her."

"That's because he's in denial with his feelings. He'll get over it." Jo said firmly. Lyra trusted Jo, so she believed her fully. "We should get them on the ferris wheel together. All the couples actually. It's like, a 10 minute ride on it, it'll be perfect."

"Now?" Lyra asked.

"Hm..no, wait until it's darker and the stars are out. I'll get Morty to ride with me. You should get Proton to ride with you."

"What?"

"Lyra, stop it, we all know you two like each other." Jo rolled her eyes and Lyra didn't answer her.

"Having fun?" Lily asked, approaching the group with a glaceon plushie in her arms.

"Tons. I love being surrounded by water." Nate sighed and Lily smiled at her friend.

"You'll forget about the water soon. Oh! That's a pretty scarf!" Lily exclaimed, looking at Gabi's scarf.

"Thanks, Cassius won it for me.."

"He did? Good job Cassius!" Lily smiled. "I got Flint to get this for me. I tried to throw the dart but I almost hit the guy working the game so Flint took over.."

"All that matters is that you tried." Lyra told her reassuringly.

"Lily, we might need your help later." Jo pulled the blonde over to her and Lyra. "We want to get all the couples on the ferris wheel together, but I'm worried the other gang members will get in the way. Sakutaro already has Courtney and Mars distracted, Ariana and Archer will probably ride together, I doubt Jupiter will ride it, but Tabitha and Brodie might get in the way, Shelly too."

"I can take care of them! I'll make sure to get all those couples in their own pokeball on the ferris wheel. Wait, who is Nate riding with?" Lily questioned.

"Carlos."

"Oh good, he's cute and funny. I never liked Tabitha much anyway. He scares me." Lily nodded her head, happy to be included to help.

"Look!" Nate exclaimed, stopping right in front of a game stall. "It's a Latias plushie!"

"Your dad said no more plushies.." Tabitha muttered, shaking his head.

"But I need it."

"Really? You'll die without it?"

"I just might." Nate said seriously. "It's so cute, c'mon. He won't mind one more.."

"One more? How many does she have?" Gabi asked, not pinning Nate for the plushie type of girl.

"She collects them of all the legendary pokemon." Lily told her. "Plus, Latias is her absolute favorite."

"Your dad will kill you if you bring another one home." Tabitha told her and she groaned, but walked away from it anyway. She crossed her arms again and glared at Tabitha, clearly pissed at him.

"You know, Carlos.." Jo said, getting the boy's attention. "If you won her that, she'd be so happy…"

"…So?" He questioned, even though he knew what she meant.

"Do it."Lily said. "That'd make her super happy. Latias is one of her favorites."

"Did you tell them!?" Carlos asked, now embarrassed.

"Not like we couldn't tell.." Proton muttered, overhearing their conversation. "Just don't let Ariana and Archer see you with it."

"Where am I supposed to hide it?" He asked.

"In that big baggy jacket of yours. Just zip it on in there." Jo said simply. "Proton is letting you do it, so, you should do it."

Carlos waited until the rest of the group was further down the pier before he sighed.

"Fine, she better like it." He grumbled, going over to the game stall.

"She will!" Lily smiled. "She'll love it so much!"

* * *

"This will be so fun!" Lily exclaimed, standing next to Flint as they waited in line for the ferris wheel. It was dark out now, the sun having just set. The pier was lit up and busy with couples walking around and children running to the game stalls.

"You two." The worker said to Lucia and Saturn. Jo had slipped him 10 bucks to make sure the couples ended up together. Saturn helped Lucia into the pokeball and then got in himself. "Next two." He motioned for Cassius and Gabi who climbed in the next pokeball.

"Where's Shelly, Tabitha, and Brodie?" Lyra asked.

"Ah, well I told Tabitha and Brodie that Courtney needed them, like, 7 shops down, and told Shelly that there was a cute blue dress in the shop over there that would look great on her." Lily explained, proud of herself.

"Next two." The worker motioned for Minuet and Touya, who got on eagerly. "Next." He called for Carlos and Nate, they got on, sitting at opposite sides of their pokeball, looking at each other awkwardly.

"Idiots.." Emilie rolled her eyes. "They better get together. I bet 20 bucks on them." She told Jo as she and Cheren were called to get on the ride.

"Here we goooooo." Jo said, trying to not be nervous as she and Morty got on the ride. Lily and Flint were next, then Proton and Lyra.

* * *

Lyra looked at Proton and then out the window. He was sitting next to her, stretched out. "My feet hurt."

"We've done a lot of walking today." Lyra agreed. "I can't wait get back to the house and watch a movie or something. We've got only a couple more days left."

"Then back to school." Proton said, yawning. "Then about, a month and a half later, graduation."

"Where are you going to school?" Lyra asked, hoping it wasn't across the country.

"Ah, Tem. Its about an hour north of our town. I got a scholarship there." He explained. "I'd be able to come down every weekend to visit."

"Good!" Lyra smiled. An hour wasn't long at all. She sat back and looked out over the ocean.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want me to get you something?" Gabi asked and Cassius shook his head.

"I told you not to worry about it."

"You're always telling me not to worry about it." Gabi said.

"Then maybe I'm right? You worry over things to much. You just got to let things go once in a while, you know?" He questioned, smiling at her. "Trust me!"

"I do trust you."

"Good, so, no need to get me anything. I'm just happy you like it. You look good with it on. The little stars on it match the mark on your cheek." Cassius said and Gabi looked out the window, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Thank you!" She said quickly, realizing he might take her reaction as a bad sign. "I really love it."

"You okay?" He asked, confused. "Something wrong?" Had he said something that made her uncomfortable? Now he felt like an idiot.

"No no, it's fine." Gabi said and turned back to him. "I just didn't want my face to get red or anything."

"It looks fine." He chuckled, relieved. "So, you want to go practice surfing tomorrow? Maybe buggy boarding instead?"

"Let's try buggy boarding." She said, nodding her head at him. "That might be a little easier."

"It's so fun! You'll love it!"

"Will I love it like you said I'll love wakeboarding?"

"Yes!"

"Oh dear.."

* * *

"Is your ankle doing better?" Touya asked. Minuet had her feet across his lap. He told her it would make her ankle feel better, but it just made her embarrassed.

"It's fine." She said for the millionth time. It was sweet that he cared and was worried, but he didn't have to be so motherly.

"I just wanna make sure you're feeling alright. I would hate for you to be in pain." He told her. "You having fun?"

"Tons, thanks for carrying me on your back. I really appreciate it." Her day was perfect. Her ankle hurt, but she got to be on his back practically the whole day. He was so warm and cute and funny….and his mouth was moving…wait, what was he saying? "Sorry, what was that?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to play more Brawl when we got back to the beach house. Or maybe watch a movie? I would suggest a walk on the beach, but you can't really walk.."

"Yeah, I'd love to." She agreed, ready to kick his butt again in the game. "Thanks, Touya."

"No problem! I'm just happy that you're happy!" He exclaimed, smiling his big goofy smile at her. She leaned forward and ruffled his hair, smiling at him.

"You're too cute." She murmured.

"I am pretty cute, aren't I?" He asked, pulling her closer to him and nuzzling against her neck affectionately. "Hey, Minuet? I know it's still a few weeks away, but would you wanna go to prom with me?"

"Of course!" Minuet smiled, hugging him happily.

* * *

"So, there's a bookstore around here?" Emilie asked Cheren, who was looking out the window boredly, not impressed by the ride.

"Yes, it's to the right of the pier, a few minutes of walking on the boardwalk will take us there."

"Let's go tomorrow!" Emilie said excitedly, clutching her plush tightly.

"You sure your friends won't mind?"

"Nah, they're too into their crushes." Emilie rolled her eyes. "Besides, it's my vacation, I can do what I damn well please."

"Nice attitude."

"Well, you gotta get stuff done, you know? Besides, I need some new books to read!" Emilie told him. "But check out this view, isn't it beautiful?"

"It's alright.."

"Cheren, it's BEAUTIFUL. Not, alright." She shook her head at him and looked over at the window behind their seat. "Look how bright the stars are and how calm the waves are. Look at all the pretty lights and little people down there holy crap we're at the very top of this thing why did it stop?" She rushed her words together as their cart came to a stop. "Are we stuck oh my gosh."

"They're letting people on…" Cheren said, patting the girl's shoulder.

"…I knew that."

* * *

"Thank you very much for winning me the scarf." Lucia said, sitting next to Saturn.

"I'm glad you like it." He said.

"I love it." She said, nodding and smiling at him. She twirled it around in her hands before she look out the window. "Look at all the stars out there."

"It looks like Emilie is a little nervous about us stopping."

"She should know that we have to stop to let more people on the ride and to let people off. It's logical." Lucia said simply.

"Emilie isn't very logical." Saturn said with a sigh. His hand brushed against Lucia's. She felt a pang of nervousness, but she remained calm and didn't move her hand, so he held it gently and they both smiled at each other (and freaked out inwardly).

"Would you like to go on a walk with me later tonight? The beach is very pretty at night, you can see tons of stars." Saturn asked and Lucia nodded her head happily.

"That would be really nice." She said, her smile growing wider.

* * *

"You know, you'll have to give me my scarf by sooner or later." Morty stated, smirking at Jo.

"But it's warm and when I run, it makes me look epic." Jo reasoned, trying to keep it longer. "Fineeee." She groaned and handed it over to him. "I guess it suits you better."

"It looked good on you, but we all know it looks best on me." Morty chuckled and Jo rolled her eyes at him.

"I make everything look great." Jo boosted.

"Too cute.." Morty murmured, making Jo grow flustered.

"Ah, look at all the people down there!" She said, her voice a little higher than it was before. She had to calm herself down! Being nervous wasn't going to help her at all.

"You okay?" He asked, inching closer to her on the seat.

She couldn't handle this! He was making her nervous on purpose! The way he looked at her was way too much right now! She felt his arm slip around her shoulders and almost died.

"Relax." He murmured into her ear, only making her more nervous.

* * *

Nate looked and saw how talkative and happy everyone was in their own pokeball.

Then there was her and Carlos. Just sitting there. Awkwardly.

"Uh.." Carlos started, standing up. "I knew you really wanted this, so here." He unzipped his jacket and held out the latias plushie. He really hoped she didn't yell at him or not want it anymore. It would make everything way more awkward.

"What?" Nate asked, looking at it. "You got that for me? Really?"

"Who else would I have gotten it for?" He asked. She jumped up and took it, looking at it before hugging it tightly.

"That was really nice of you Carlos…" She murmured, then surprisingly hugged him. "But don't expect me to be super nice to you!" She said, embarrassed that she hugged him. She sat down on the seat and hugged the doll again, freaking out on the inside about it. He plopped down next to her and sighed.

"You? Nice? Impossible." He smirked and she tried to glare at him, but just ended up smiling and messed with her plush again.

"Thank you." She said. "I really love it."

* * *

"Aw! Look! She didn't even yell at him." Lily sighed as she watched Nate. "Oh gosh, she hugged him!"

"Really?" Flint asked, coming up behind her and looking over her shoulder. "Way to go Nate.

"Huge improvement. She still looked a little embarrassed and nervous, but, we can work on that." Lily laughed and turned to face Flint, who was very close to her face. "Ah!" She shouted, startled. She fell back onto her seat in surprise.

"Sorry!" He rubbed the back of his neck and sat down next to her. "I didn't realize how close I was."

"I-It's fine." She nodded her head and smiled at him. She didn't want him to think she didn't want him near her! She did! "It just startled me. I don't care how close you get to me."

"Oh, good." Flint smirked, pulling her next to him and putting his arm around her shoulders. "So…once we set Nate up with someone, who should we sent Volkner up with?"

* * *

"Did everyone have fun?" Lyra asked as everyone got out of their pokeballs and went over to the exit.

"Yes." Lucia smiled, holding Saturn's hand.

"Very much!" Minuet agreed, clinging onto Touya's back.

"Too much…" Jo mumbled, still flustered by Morty, who put an arm around her shoulder and shrugged.

"Awah, what a cute plushie!" Lily exclaimed when Nate and Carlos got out of their ball.

"Don't act like you weren't watching us. I saw you." Nate told her, making her friend sigh.

"You never let me have any fun.."

"She never lets me have fun either." Carlos joked.

"I think our plan worked perfectly." Lyra announced to Proton. "Everyone is so happy, and we had tons of fun too, right?"

"Right." Proton agreed, looking at her.

"We couldn't find Courtney anywhere." Brodie said, approaching the group.

"Oh.." Lily muttered, forgetting that she sent the two on a wild goose chase.

"When did you guys ride the ferris wheel?" Mars asked. "I wanted to ride it…"

"Me too!" Shelly said, coming up to them.

"Where did you get the doll from?" Tabitha asked, looking at Nate.

"Okay!" Lyra said, clapping her hands. "I didn't know you guys wanted to ride the ferris wheel. You just left the group suddenly, so I figured you wanted to go off to do your own thing, sorry."

They seemed to accept her apology and they all headed back towards the exit/entrance of the pier. They got back onto the beach and walked towards the beach house.

"So, how did everything go?" Sakutaro asked Lucia.

"Tell me!" Jo eagerly said, wanted the dish on everyone's ride.

"Well he asked if I wanted to go walking on the beach with him tonight so we can see the stars.." Lucia smiled.

"Cute!" Sakutaro exclaimed. "I knew he was going to ask you out! Mars was telling me allll about it. He really likes you. He thinks you're so smart. She also said he was planning on asking you to prom."

"Awah!" Jo cooed, smiling at Lucia, who looked embarrassed but very happy.

"Oh shit." Ariana said suddenly. "We've got trouble."

"What's wrong?" Carlos asked.

"That damn snagem gang. They seem to be causing issues again!" She grumbled. "Phoebe, the one that lives in Hoenn, just texted me saying they have a whole bunch of them at their beach house…that means they're messing with the others! Urg! No one messes with the Kanto and Johto! That's our job!"

"We need to go stop them, they're getting in on our turf." Courtney growled, looking pissed.

"What?" Lyra asked, confused.

"They're this gang that steals peoples' pokemon and causes more trouble than our gangs combined." Jo explained. "What are you guys going to do?"

"We're going to split up and go help!" Touko exclaimed. "We'll take the Unvoa house! It's our turf."

"Hell yeah, I'm feeling way better!" Minuet slid off of Touya back with determination.

"We'll take the Sinnoh house." Jupiter announced.

"We'll take the Hoenn house." Brodie said and Shelly agreed.

"I'll take Volk's place." Cassius said. "I'm sure they've got it covered, but I'm worried about Lily."

"We'll take the Johto and Kanto houses, they're right next to each other." Archer said. Morty nodded his head, agreeing to go off with them.

"I'll help you guys." Gabi said, worried about Misty and Clair.

"Nate, stay with them." Tabitha ordered, wanting her to stay with Lucia, Jo, Lyra, and Sakutaro.

"We can take care of ourselves." Sakutaro crossed his arms.

"We'd rather you not fight them. You fight them, you become their enemy." Jupiter explained. "Just stay in the house."

"But…" Nate said as the plasmas hurried off and the galactics did too. Why didn't she get to go off and fight them?

"No but, you need to watch out for them." Tabitha told her and hurried off.

"Listen to Nate." Proton told Lyra. "Please stay in the house." He said worriedly, wishing he could be the one to stay with her.

"You too Jo." Morty said and ran after Archer.

"I've got her, you go." Nate sighed. Carlos looked at her and gave her a small sad smile before running after his gang. "Okay, everyone…" She grumbled, releasing her arcanine. "Get on him, we gotta book it home."

* * *

**Okay, for one, dudes, ride a scrambler next time ya go to an amusement park. They rock.**

**I dunno why I wrote like, 7000 words. My chapters keep getting longer. Urg.**

**So, next chapter will have action in it (I know right, only took 17 chapters to get to it!) I hope I got all of the characters in this chapter a lot! I try to give them all a spotlight, it's it's difficult to write for other people's characters, I try though!**

**Tell me what you liked, didn't like, thought was funny, thought was cute, and what ya think will happen in the next chapter. It all helps me type a brand new chapter! I expect a few more chapters in this story (maybe 6?) I'm not sure, but I'm already planning another Proton and Lyra story. It will be an Alternate Universe sort of thing, but it will be in the pokemon world. For now though, all my focus is on this story.**

** Thank you so much for reading!**


	18. Chapter 18: Enter Break In

**(fun fact: I never realized that their gang name was basically Snag 'em, because they stole pokemon.)**

**This chapter sort of switches POV a lot, sorry, but this is what happens when I try to write action. It's super messy and probably confusing too. **

**Dudes, not going to force you to review, but try to review at least every like…3 chapters so I know you're still reading. If I feel like you're not reading….I won't put your character in as much. Also, I'm most likely going to start cranking chapters out soon, so if there's anything else about your character, this is it. Send it to me now.**

* * *

"I can't believe they wouldn't let us go out with them." Sakutaro crossed his arms and sat on the couch.

"It's probably for the best, they're just trying to protect us." Lyra reasoned. "I don't want my pokemon getting stolen."

"I'm too strong for them to take my pokemon away." Jo stated, crossing her legs.

"Until they hit you over the head with a pipe and knock you out." Nate said, coming into the room. Her Arcanine following her closely. "Seems clear outside, for now…"

* * *

"C'mon Pansear! Kick some butt!" Touya cheered as his pokemon took out a shroomish with one hit. "Too easy!"

"That's the problem." Minuet said, shaking her head as her absol attacked a slugma. "They're weak, but there's tons of them." Each snagem member had 6 pokemon, luckily they were weak and easily taken out. Her absol growled and posed, ready pounce on its trainer's command. "Let's see you try and keep up with this! Alto, use night slash!" The pokemon ran at the slugma, whipping its horn towards the pokemon and delivering a harsh blow to the pokemon. It tumbled back, KO'd.

"Nice hittt!" Roxie said from beside her as she took on another snagem grunt. "These guys are about to hear my wrath!"

"Try to keep a level-head." Cheren said, tightening his tie. "Take down!" He ordered to his own pokemon.

"Where the hell do they keep coming from?" Minuet grumbled as another slugma appeared in front of her. This was getting frustrating. She was supposed to be curled up next to Touya watching movie or playing a video game, not battling these losers! Her ankle still hurt as well. A perfect day just turned sour because of some low-life thugs, she hated it. "Take it down!" She stomped her foot.

* * *

"These thugs ruined my night.." Saturn grumbled, glaring at the shaved headed grunt standing in front of him, his pokemon ready to fight. "Kadabra, use psybeam!" Saturn ordered, knocking the enemy pokemon out.

"I know, your date night with Lucia is ruined." Emilie said. "I was going to call Cheren up later and ask if he wanted to go out for ice cream or something….Hurry up! I don't have all day!" She shouted as the snagem grunt fumbled with his pokeball. He tossed it out and flipped the bird at Emilie, who felt her blood boil. "I'M TAKING YOU DOWN! VULPIX. LIGHT. HIM. UP." She shouted, flames shoot out of her head in anger. The pokemon yelped and shot a flamethrower attack at shroomish, ready to knock it out.

"I like her spark!" Gardenia cheered, smiling at Emilie.

"I think she's dangerous." Aaron muttered, unsure of what he was more worried about, the on-coming group of snagem members, or Emile.

* * *

"I've got you!" Gabi said as a snagem member tried to attack Misty from behind. ""You ready? 'Cause the storm's coming!" She called out to him. "Let's go Phi! Thunderbolt!" The Gardevoir cried out and sent the attack straight towards the enemy pokemon.

"They just keep coming.." Carlos groaned. "Charberto, flamethrower!"

"Shelly just called me and told me it's bad where she is as well." Gabi said.

"It's because they have a full team. It just seems endless." Proton told them both. "We'll be done with them in no time."

"But there's like, 20 of them now!" Carlos said. "And we have the most people fighting against them. What if they're at the beach house? You know Lyra's pokemon aren't very strong yet." Which, was true. It was a slow and steady process, but she wasn't completely comfortable battling just yet, neither were her pokemon.

"Don't say that so loudly." Proton growled, glaring at two snagem grunts who were whispering something to each other. "I'm sure they're fine. Nate is watching her. Plus, Jo, Sakutaro, and Lucia are there."

"I don't want Jo having to battle any of these thugs." Morty said, glaring at his opponent. He knew she could handle it, but these guys could be imitating and he didn't want her dealing with them at all. They used dirty tricks and could sneak attack them.

"Nate is the only one who's dealt with them before." Gabi said. "The others don't know how overwhelming these guys can be." She wasn't very worried about the other blonde girl, but she knew if something were to happen, the others would be too panicked or scared to deal with them.

"And Nate is the only one there with them." Carlos added, worried about them, though he was mostly worried about Nate. "I'm not saying she can't handle it but…aren't you worried?"

"Just be quiet, I'm trying to battle here." Proton glared at Carlos.

"I knew he liked Lyra, look how he glared at me." Carlos muttered to Gabi. "A MAN doesn't run from a barking houndoom, he barks right back at it!" He shouted as the grunt he was fighting gave in and ran away down the beach.

"Go to the beach house, now." Proton ordered.

"Will do." Carlos jumped onto his charizard's back and they flew off down the beach.

* * *

"But what if they do show up and you need help?" Sakutaro asked.

"I won't need help."

"Yes you will!"

"Look," Nate growled, angry at all of them for pestering her. "I get it, you want to do something, but this is my job. I'm protecting all four of you, which is really surprising because I can't believe they left you in my care at all…" Nate trailed off. "But letting you guys out to battle is just…no. Their pokemon might be weak, but they will outnumber you greatly and then drag you off one by one to who knows where!"

"They'll just do that to you then!" Lyra exclaimed.

"I have arcanine." She rubbed her pokemon's chin. "He'll kill them before letting them take me anywhere. Besides, if I let you guys into it and you get hurt, I'll be killed for sure. Morty, Proton, and Saturn will have my neck! Plus, practically everyone loves you Sakutaro, so if you get hurt I might as well go drown myself." Arcanine whined at this so she rubbed his chin again. "It's okay baby." She cooed.

Lyra leaned back onto a pile of plushies. Everyone handed off their plushie to her so it wouldn't get messed up when they went to kick snagem ass. She frowned, unsure what to do.

"Don't you guys think I'm upset that they left me behind?" Nate questioned. "You guys know how nerve wracking it is to watch you four?" She looked at all of them before sighing. "I'm going back out to check. Stay. Inside. Got it? Just stay quiet. If anything happens, get out of this house and call 911. If I scream, do the same thing."

They watched her and the large dog pokemon go out the back door. It was locked and they sat in silence.

"This is ridiculous.." Sakutaro crossed his arms. "I don't want to sit in here."

"They just want to protect us." Lucia said. "It's actually very sweet of them. We're in the inner circle of them now."

"You think?" Jo asked.

"They put someone to guard us and keep us safe. They could've just brought us along or left us on the beach or made us come back here by ourselves to sit and wait, but they chose a girl with a stubborn attitude and the most loyal pokemon anyone could have to watch us." Lucia explained. "So yes, I think we are very important in their eyes. Of course Lyra is to Proton. He's probably worried about her right now."

"He is not.." Lyra blushed, embarrassed. She was worried about him, but she knew he could beat a million of the grunts without breaking a sweat. There was a bang outside and they all grew silent. They heard arcanine bark, then whine, then go silent. Jo got up and went to the window, pulled the curtain back a little and peaked out.

"Nate's in trouble!" She gasped, unsure what to do. The others rushed over and saw the blonde surrounded, one grunt had his arm under her chin, lifting her off the ground as she struggled. "We have to do something!"

"Call 911!" Lucia said, reaching for a phone.

"We need to get out there and help her!" Sakutaro exclaimed, but Lyra grabbed his arm.

"If we go out there, we'll be caught too! Plus, who knows what they'll do to Nate if we try to stop them. Arcanine isn't even doing anything, so we need to stay out of it." She said and there was a bang on the back door.

"We need to run." Jo said, grabbing a pokeball. "My salamance knows how to fly. We can get in the air and try to help Nate from there, if possible without getting her in more trouble!"

"My togekiss can fly too." Sakutaro nodded his head and they all ran for the front door as the back door was kicked in.

"I need to report a break in!" Lucia shouted into the phone. "They just kicked in the door!"

"Get on!" Jo grabbed Lucia's free hand and pulled her onto her pokemon. Sakutaro called out his pokemon and climbed on it quickly.

"They're coming!" He shouted, seeing guys with shaved or bald heads with red vests on running through the house.

"The police are on the way!" Lucia announced, helping Lyra up as Salamance lifted itself in the air.

"HELP!" Lyra screamed as one grunt grabbed her foot, pulling her down. She felt her heart stop and she tried to kick him off.

* * *

"What the hell?" Cheren asked as an Audino rammed into one of the pokemon he was battling. They were outnumbered with Snagem grunts and had to start double battling them just to keep up. The audino cheered after successfully knocking the pokemon out.

"Need some help~?" Emilie asked, running over to them, kicking one of the Snagem grunt's in the butt, making him fall over.

"That would be fantastic!" Minuet said from behind Cheren as Jupiter joined her. "Where the hell did you guys come from?"

"We knocked all of ours out so we decided to come and see if you needed assistance!" Emilie replied as the others came to join them. "Proton said he sent Carlos to go check up on Lyra and the others like…a minute ago, so we'll have to see how they're doing."

"Better be doing well." Saturn furrowed his brows and joined up with Roxie.

* * *

"These guys are ruining my night!" Lily shouted. "Leafeon, take them down!"

"Calm down Lil.." Cassius muttered, trying not to get close to the girl. She could really bring the pain when you pushed her buttons.

"No way! I'm going to make them suffer!" She growled, stomping her foot.

"No more hanging out with Natalie." Volkner mumbled.

"That reminds me, they left Nate to watch Lyra and the others.." Cassius said.

"Go on, I think we'll manage…" Flint said as Lily knocked out another pokemon, her rage showing no signs of stopping. "Maybe swing by and see how Gabi is

doing, eh?" Flint winked at him and Cassius glared at him, embarrassed, and ran off with Umbreon at his heels.

* * *

Proton finished his battle with his grunt and wiped his forehead. He glanced down at his watch. It had only been one minute since he sent Carlos to go check up on them. Time was going way too slowly.

"Go, we've got this." Lance said appearing beside Proton. "Go make sure she's alright."

"Yeah, go Proton." Gabi said, taking on another grunt. "We can handle it here, but I have a feeling they need some help…and my gut is never wrong." Proton nodded his head off and sprinted down the beach, his golbat close behind him. He had a horrible feeling in his gut as well and it was driving him nuts. He didn't know when he started to become so protective over Lyra, or when he started to think about her when she wasn't around, but something in him snapped whenever he thought about one of the low life thugs getting a hold of her. Technically, depending on who you asked, he was a low life thug.

Technically, he didn't give a shit.

* * *

Carlos heard Arcanine as they neared the house. He saw the large canine pace and then lay down, whining very loudly. As he and his chraizard got closer, he saw a big group of snagem members standing around. Arcanine was on the outside of the group, and he looked panicked. He landed and hopped off the pokemon, searching the beach for any sights of Nate, while trying not to be seen by the thugs. He saw her in a tight headlock, struggling to breathe. "Charberto…" Carlos growled. "I've got a great idea…"

* * *

"L-Let me go!" Nate squirmed and kicked in the male's grasps, her voice coming out hoarse. She could barely breathe! "Let…go!"

"Still struggling, eh?"

"I'll….kick your ass…!" She coughed as his arm tightened around her neck. He had her in a tight headlock and she could feel him lift her in the air again. She couldn't die like this! She watched them kick the door into the beach house and she prayed that Jo and the rest of them actually listened to her. She had no clue what to do, all she was focusing on was getting more oxygen into her body. She clawed his arm, trying to pull it away or flip him over like all the girls in the movies could.

"What's wrong?" The head of the group asked when his crew stopped laughing. They looked scared of something behind him. He turned and shouted, distracted. Nate pulled all her weight down and threw him over her shoulder and he hit the ground. Nate started coughing and gasped for air, not even thinking about the creature coming out of the water. She finally turned to look at it. "…A swampert?" She questioned, coughing. The thugs behind her backed up.

"Where the hell do you think you guys are going?" Carlos asked, his Rhyperior and Charizard standing behind him, ready to fight.

"Carlos?" Nate was surprised to see him, but she figured that she shouldn't be. Carlos was always around to save her ass lately. "I totally had this under control.." She coughed and he rolled his eyes. The last thing he needed to hear was that he saved her ass. He'd never shut up about it.

"I'm sure you did." He muttered. "Just lemme kick their asses before we argue." Arcanine growled, ready to pounce on the thugs.

* * *

Proton saw Carlos with a group of thugs in the back of the house, but his attention was drawn to the front, where he heard Lyra scream for help. His legs picked up speed and he saw her being pulled off of Jo's salamance by a thug. He threw himself against the male, knocking him over.

"Golbat, get them!" He shouted and his pokemon attacked, dispersing the group. The grunt he knocked over stood up, ready to punch Proton.

"Proton!" Lyra shouted, landing on the ground.

"Of course you would get in trouble. I knew they were going to come after you when Carlos mention how unprotected you guys were." He grabbed the thug and held him up by the collar of his shirt. "I swear if I ever see you touch her again or even look at her, it'll be the last thing you do." He growled, tightening his grip. He heard police sirens grow closer and shook the thug, making sure his message got across loud and clear. When the first cop car pulled up, Proton dropped the thug.

"You gotta help Na-" Jo started but Proton shook his head.

"Carlos has her." More cop cars pulled up and a fire truck as a first response vehicle. They all ran out, going straight to the Snagem members and handcuffing them.

"Is everyone okay here?" A firefighter asked.

"There's more in the back." Sakutaro told the cops, directing them to the back of the house. "I think Nate might need medical attention." He led them to the back.

"Is everything okay?" Gabi asked, appearing with Minuet, Touya, and her gardevoir, Phi. "She knows teleport." She explained when Jo gave her a confused expression. "Cops showed up and busted the snagem members we were battling. Minuet's ankle is starting to swell.."

"Let me look at it." A firefighter said, coming over to the group.

"Who called us in?" A police officer asked, looking at the teenagers.

"Oh…me." Lucia said and he went over to question her on what happened.

"Gabi are you okay?" Cassius ran up to them. "I ran by the others and they say you were already here with Lyra. What the hell happened? I thought Nate was watching you guys?"

"She was until they got her and busted into the house!" Jo exclaimed, still scared. "We tried to get away but they grabbed onto Lyra's foot, then Proton came in and kicked his ass!" The grunt he threatened groaned and Proton glared at him, silencing him.

"They got her?" Cassius asked. "When did you get here?"

"Just now, I'm fine. I'm just as lost as you are." Gabi muttered. "Jo, relax. You're really jumpy.."

"Do you need a shock blanket?" The firefighter asked and she nodded her head yes. He pulled a blanket out of the back of their truck and gave it to her. She wrapped it around her tightly and sat on the curb. Lyra sat next to her.

"You sure you're okay?" Cassius asked, seeing a light bruise on Gabi's knuckles.

"Oh, fine, I punched one of them in the jaw." She said nonchalantly.

Minuet winced as another firefighter touched her ankle. "Were you walking on it?"

"I knew I shouldn't have let you come and battle with us!" Touya exclaimed and Minuet shushed him.

"Yes, I was, but it was started to feel better." She said.

"Just put some ice on it and prop it up, not too high though, when you go to bed. It'll feel better tomorrow." He smiled at them, entertained by Touya's outburst. "You'll take care of her, right? She'll be in good hands with you." He told Touya.

"Your other friend should be okay, just some bruising around her neck. We've got her on the oxygen tank now, she started to freak out." A firefighter came from the back of the house. "She'll be okay though, she punched the boy that was with her. I asked if he was her boyfriend and he said yes, so she punched him and shouted no, then flipped out when he called her sweetie and that's when the oxygen tank had to be pulled out."

"That's Nate for you.." Cassius sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This is a big mess, I need to call my gramps.." He took his cell phone and walked off.

* * *

Once everyone got back, the police questioned all of them and allowed them back into the house. Since the back door was broken in, a few cops sat out on the back porch, keeping watch and to make sure no other snagem thugs came.

"Hey." Lyra sat down on the couch downstairs. It was midnight now, but no one was really sleeping.

"Hey." Jo said, watching Minuet and Touya battle each other in a video game.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Morty calmed me down when he called. I never realized hanging out with these guys were going to lead to this much trouble."

"We lead dangerous lives." Cassius said as he came into the house to grab a couple of sodas from the fridge. He headed back out after having Courtney shout at him for stealing something she was making. "Very dangerous." He repeated and slipped out the back.

"Where is everyone?" Lyra asked. She knew barely any of them were asleep. "Lucia and Saturn are playing chess. It's helping her relax." Jo nodded towards the two as they made small talk as they played. "Cassius and Gabi are outside on the swing on the porch. He apparently was overrun by grunts with Volk and Flint and Lily. Sakutaro is in the kitchen with Courtney with their ninetails, I think she's baking cookies or something. I think Archer and Ariana went out to patrol the area again. Nate's upstairs watching infomercials, I think Carlos is with her. Proton is up in his room I think."

"What an eventful day.." Lyra sighed.

"Definitely not a boring spring break." Jo murmured, chuckling as Minuet beat Touya yet again. Lyra wandered into the kitchen, smelling the cookies. Courtney gave her two and Lyra headed upstairs. Nate was curled up on the couch, clutching her Latias plush. Carlos sat next to her, chuckling about something she said.

"Courtney made cookies." Lyra told them, showing them the cookies she had.

"Sweeeett, I'm starving, let's get some." Carlos stood up and looked at Nate. "Come on, I heard your stomach grumble." She glared at him but got up anyway.

"Are you okay?" Lyra asked, seeing the bruising around her neck. It was hard not to notice.

"Fine." She said. "Except now Carlos keeps reminding me how many times he's saved my butt or been nice to be in the past few days. I flipped the thug over. He made me have to go on the oxygen tank."

"It's because I'm so attractive that I just took her breath away." Carlos joked. "Seriously, I just don't understand what I have to do for you to be nice to me for longer than a minute." Carlos sighed, leading her downstairs. Lyra smiled and knocked on Proton's door.

"What?" He asked and she came in, waving the cookies.

"I brought cookies." She said. He was sitting on his bed, reading a book. He closed his book as Lyra sat down next to him. She passed him a cookie and they ate them in silence. "Thanks for today."

"I wasn't just going to stand by and let him grab you." Proton said, getting angry at the thought of it. "Are you okay?"

That was the main question of the night. "I'm fine. My ankle hurts a little, but I'm fine. I thought you were going to kill that guy…" Lyra remember seeing how angry Proton was. He looked like he was ready to kill.

"Not kill…just hurt. A lot." Proton told her truthfully. "He had no right to touch you. He's just some scum bag. I should have gone to the house with you at the beginning."

"It's not your fault." Lyra said calmly. "And we're all okay. Just, thanks." She said, hugging him tightly. She felt him stiffen at first, but then relaxed and put an arm around her.

* * *

She jolted awake the next morning, in her bed and confused.

"Nightmare?" Lucia asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Oh, no…just…" She looked around their room, wondering how she got there.

"Proton carried you in last night, said you fell asleep in his room." Jo climbed down the ladder on the bunk bed. "It was cute. He told us not to take pictures of him doing it. I got one of Cassius carrying Gabi on his back. She was asleep and adorable!"

"Ah, I can't believe I missed that."

"It was like, 2am. You were out by like, 12:30." Lucia said and made up her bed.

"2am?!" Lyra asked, surprised.

"Everyone stayed up pretty late, probably freaked out. It took me a while to fall asleep, but the murmur from the tv in that rec area helped me fall asleep around 2:30." Jo explained, packing her things up in the suitcase, ready to leave tomorrow.

"Was I the first person asleep?"

"Sort of." Lucia told her, also packing up her bag as well. "Cassius says we'll be heading out early tomorrow, so you might want to get things packed up."

"Oh, okay..when did he say that?"

"This morning. He's already gone out surfing and came back." Jo shrugged.

"How does he have so much energy after all that?"

"This is the stuff they're used to Lyra." Jo said. "We aren't. They've gone against Snagem multiple times, they sneak out and stay out all night then get up at 7am for school, they go graffiti walls, and they go cause trouble. I think we're all forgetting who we've surrounded ourselves with…not saying that they're bad, because they definitely aren't to us, but, we're not all the same."

"I know but they are like us in tons of ways."

"We know that." Lucia added. "But things that affect us might not affect them. They run differently than us. C'mon, let's go get some breakfast." Lyra followed the two downstairs, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she went. They trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen. The backdoor was still gone and a few cops will still outside, but other than that it was sort of normal.

"Morning." Lyra greeted.

"Good morning." Brodie said, drinking a cup of coffee and looking like he had a perfect night's rest. Lyra wondered how he did it.

"Hmmh." Nate grumbled, half asleep at the table. "Mornin…"

"Why is she awake? It's 8am." Lyra asked, pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

"She didn't go to sleep last night and Courtney won't let her into the bedroom to go back to bed." Brodie answered.

"The infomercials." Nate sighed. "I like watching them…"

"Go to sleep in my bedroom." Cassius said, ruffling her hair. "Carlos is out on his jog so the bed is free."

"Urg, I'll smell like you two…" She grumbled, but got up anyway.

"Depends on what side of the bed you pick." Cassius called after her. "There's a pillow separating the sides, have fun."

"Always pleasant in the morning." Minuet said as Nate walked up the stairs.

"How's your ankle?" Lucia asked, sitting down next to her.

"Way better. The swelling went down and I can walk on it, I just can't put too much pressure on it." She explained happily. "I'm so getting Touya to give me more back rides." She really wanted to go walk on the beach at night, so maybe she could convince Touya to give her a back ride tonight so they could enjoy the dark beach together?

"You're really milking it, aren't you?" Sakutaro asked, chuckling. "I would too. Is there anything planned for today?"

"Oh…" Lyra mumbled when everyone looked to her for an answer. "No, today is sort of a do whatever you want day, since we're leaving tomorrow."

"Awesome, I'm calling Morty later then." Jo smiled. She was quickly coming up with tons of things for them to do. The mall, bookstore, ice cream place, another ride on the ferris wheel, a walk on the beach…

"I'll be hitting up the bookstore with Cheren!" Emilie cheered, clearly excited to go get new books and spend time with the boy. They all sat around eating breakfast, chatting about what they wanted to do today. Carlos came in later from his jog and ran upstairs to shower.

"Oops." Cassius mumbled. "I forgot to tell him Nate was in our room."

"…..No you did not forget." Gabi said. "You didn't tell him on purpose."

"He kicks me and hogs all the covers." Cassius said. "All the covers are on his side. I hated sleeping with him."

"So what do you think will happen?"

"He'll wake Nate up, scare the shit outta both of them, then get yelled at by her." Cassius shrugged, finishing his orange juice.

"This will be good!" Minuet clapped, laughing loudly. They heard water running upstairs and waited patiently for a fight.

* * *

Carlos stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, drying the upper half of his torso off before wrapping it around his waist and leaving the bathroom to find something to wear. He leaned over to his side of the bed, the side with all the covers ( he enjoyed pissing Cassius off by taking all the covers) and grabbed a blanket, pulling it up to see if he left clothes underneath it.

There were no clothes underneath it.

There was a girl.

"What the hell?" He asked, looking at Nate who was snuggled up against his pillow. She looked so peaceful but he knew that was probably about to end as she yawned and opened her eyes, looking up at him. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"…WHAT THE HELL?!" She shouted, falling off the bed tangled in covers and scared half the death of seeing Carlos hovering over her.

"WHY ARE YOU IN MY BED?!" He shouted, startled by her being startled by him.

"CASSIUS TOLD ME I COULD BECAUSE COURTNEY WON'T LET ME BACK IN OUR ROOM!" She pulled free of the covers and stood up.

* * *

"That's perfect!" Minuet laughed, hearing them shout at each other and doors slamming.

"I knew she'd sleep on Carlos' side!" Cassius chuckled.

"You guys are so mean." Lyra said, trying to hold back laughter.

"What are we laughing about?" Proton asked, coming into the kitchen.

"HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSE TO KNOW THAT YOU WERE IN MY BED?!" Carlos shouted from upstairs.

"Oh." Proton mumbled, sitting next to Lyra at the table.

"Cassius let Nate sleep in he and Carlos' bed since Courtney won't let Nate sleep in their room because it's too late to go to bed, but Cassius didn't tell Carlos that Nate was sleeping in their room so he went up there to take a shower and we're unsure if Nate saw him naked or not." Minuet explained, laughing hard.

"Oh dude if he was that'd make it funnier!" Emilie started laughing.

"Good morning! Why is everyone laughing?" Lily asked, opening the front door and coming into the kitchen.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A SHIRT ON!" Nate shouted, stomping around upstairs.

"I JUST GOT OUT OF THE SHOWER AND I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYONE COMPLAIN ABOUT SEEING ME SHIRTLESS. I'M INCREDIBLY GOOD LOOKING IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED."

"Ah…" Lily sighed. "I was already on my way over here to see how you were all doing when she texted me asking me to come over. I guess she's not having a pleasant morning."

"You think seeing a fit guy without a shirt on in the morning would brighten your day up a little, it only darkens hers." Emilie joked, sipping her coffee. "I love it when they fight and argue."

"Gives us something to laugh at." Sakutaro smiled.

"I'm going to destroy you!" Nate growled, as she came into the kitchen, putting her hair up in a messy updo. "You knew I was in there!"

"I had to get back at him." Cassius replied.

"Screw that. Let's go." Nate grumbled to Lily, who was staring at her friend's bruises.

"WHO DID THAT TO YOU?!" She shouted. "WHO DID THIS TO HER?!" She pointed at Nate's neck and collarbone area and looked at everyone. "DID SOMEONE IN THIS HOUSE ABUSE YOU?! Tell me who I'll destroy them!" She asked, shaking her friend's shoulders.

"Well at the moment, you are." Nate replied and Lily stopped shaking her. "Just some thug, let's go." She grabbed her friend's wrist and pulled her out of the kitchen and towards the front door. "No biggie."

"N-no biggie?! Big biggie! Volkner, Flint, change of plans! We're going to destroy someone today!" Lily shouted as Nate dragged her out of the house.

"She's very protective." Cassius explained as the police officers outside started laughing about what just happened in the house, overhearing everything.

"I'm going to kill you." Carlos told Cassius as he came into the kitchen.

"Nate already called dibs." Cassius joked but Carlos glared at him. That was the worst. Nate was definitely forever pissed at him, or at least pissed at him for the day. That's not what he wanted. "Do you really wanna piss her off more by killing me before she gets too?"

"No fighting." Lyra said. "Or I'll force you two to bond allll day."

"The waves are calling meeee!" Cassius said, pulling Gabi out of the kitchen with him.

"I think I'd rather stab myself than have to bond with him. Sharing a bed is bad enough." Carlos sat down at the table.

"….Okay, so were you naked when she saw you or not?" Minuet asked, holding back more laughter.

* * *

**I just prefer comedy over action. **

**Thanks so much for reviewing! It means a lot to me that you guys enjoy this story!**

**The next chapter will be their car ride home! :D **


	19. Chapter 19: Enter Miss Missing You

**I know that a few of you have asked me if I was going to do another story where you can submit your characters to it, and I'm not really sure if I will do another story like this one or not. I'm focusing on getting this one done and get it done well. Thanks so much for all the reviews!**

**Sorry for any mistakes but it's 1am. **

* * *

Sakutaro sat in the middle of Archer and Brodie. Touko drove and N was shotgun, while Jupiter sat in the back by herself. It was a calm ride, they made small chat about the weather or about school.

Sakutaro just nodded his head at whatever they said. He didn't really know what to say. Brodie, Archer and Jupiter were all discussing college. It was 10 in the morning, they decided to try to leave early since it was a 5 hour drive to get home, and he was bored. Emilie's and Cassius' looked like they were having fun, well, Emilie's car looked tortured, but still fun.

They pulled over at a diner for some breakfast. They had only been driving for an hour, but it was a welcomed break from driving.

"Can I switch?" Sakutaro asked Lyra as she chowed down on pancakes. "My car isn't that much fun."

"Yeah, you wanna ride with us? It's basically just Cassius and Carlos arguing, then Nate arguing, then Jo making sarcastic comments, and Proton and me sitting in the back. There's an extra seat in the back with us." Lyra said and nodded. "It's really loud and possibly dangerous."

"Fine by me."

* * *

"Cop coming up in a mile." Nate said as her fingers typed a message on her phone. The car beside them began to slow down and they did as well.

"How can you tell?" Sakutaro asked from behind her.

"Those cars up there are slowing down. Plus, it's been awhile since we saw a cop." She shrugged. "We gotta slow down for now, 20 miles over the speed limit will definitely get us busted."

"THIS IS CRAZY!" Miunuet screamed out of Emilie's car window. "GET ME OUT OF THIS DAMN CAR!"

"HAHA! SINCE WE LISTENED TO MY MUSICAL CDS ON THE WAY HERE, LET'S LISTEN TO GLEE!" Emilie sang loudly.

"This is horrible." Minuet grumbled, sitting back in her seat and holding on tightly to her seatbelt and tightly onto Touya's hand. They been driving like this since they started. Emilie had her music a little too loud and drove a little too fast. It made her nervous that Nate was texting her to warn them of cops and the last thing she needed was to get arrested. Touya was holding onto her hand just as tightly.

"U-Um.." Lucia muttered, clinging onto Saturn's arm as they passed the cop and started to speed up. "Please slow down."

"Seriously, Emilie, slow down." Saturn told her from the back of the car. He put his arm around Lucia and glared at Emilie, who groaned.

"They won't let me have fun!" She called out the window to Cassius.

"It's fine, we got a long strip of cops coming up, this area is always patrolled." Cassius shouted. "Might as well go slow for now!"

"Fine!" Emilie groaned, rolling up the window and slowing down, much to the relief of her passengers. "I'm a fabulous driver."

"Sure." Saturn muttered, leaning back in his seat. "Let's go with that…"

* * *

"Please tell me we won't be speeding anymore." Jo muttered, worn out from the high speed race they just went through.

"Most likely, we will be." Cassius laughed. "We've done this plenty of times, right Nate?"

"Right. Every concert we've been too, we're usually running late." She said, sitting in between Carlos and Jo. "Cassius drives, I watch for cops and read directions."

"Are you a better driver?" Proton asked, hoping cops will be out the whole way home so they won't be speeding anymore.

"I am." Nate said and Carlos snorted, not believing her. "What was that for?" She asked, looking at him.

"She gets slight road rage." Cassius looked in the rearview mirror.

"I do not. Lyra, you've ridden with me before, you know how I am." Nate said, turning to look at the girl.

"You do get a little mad when people cut you off…" Lyra admitted and Carlos laughed. Nate hit his arm and he hit her back, starting a mini slap fest between the two.

"Young love.." Lyra cooed and Proton chuckled.

"They'll kill each other." Proton shook his head. "You know, Ariana doesn't like all of this."

"All of what?"

"This." He motioned to everyone in the car. "She doesn't like how friendly we're getting with one another. She can handle polite small talk, but, she doesn't want any of us to be friends…and she definitely does not want Carlos and Nate to date or even talk." Proton said.

"Well, she can get over it. If everyone wants to be friends and they want to date, they will." Lyra crossed her arms. She worked too hard to have Arianna throw it all down the drain!

"Dude, are we almost home?" Jo asked. "These two next to me really need to get a room."

"What?!" Nate exclaimed, glaring at Jo.

"You two are so flirting!"

"Like, 3 and half hours from home…" Cassius turned up the music.

"Oh shit." Nate said suddenly, a few minutes later. "Oh my god Cassius."

"What?" He asked.

"I need to get home in like 2 hours. My mom is having some dinner party thing for this real estate project she's doing and I told her I'd be there! I forgot all about it!" Nate said seriously. "My dress and crap are at my dad's house!"

"There's no way to cut an hour off the drive, get to your dad's house, get you dressed and get you there on time." Jo told her, shaking her head.

"I can do it." Cassius smirked, speeding up. "Next stop, your dad's house."

"He's speeding up?" Emilie questioned, seeing Cassius sped past her. "IT'S ON!"

"God no." Minuet said, wide eyed as Emilie hit the gas. Minuet turned and looked at Touya from her seat in the passenger side and grabbed his hand and Lucia held onto Saturn, all four terrified as Emilie raced past Cassius. "Let's not die!"

"We won't die. Not that many people on the highway!" Emilie laughed, scaring all her passengers.

"GET ME OUT OF THIS CAR!" Touya shouted out the window.

"GET ME OUT OF THIS CAR!" Sakutaro shouted back, terrified.

"This is scary!" Minuet told Emilie. "We're not used to shit like this!"

"I am.." Saturn grumbled. "You need to slow it down Emilie, he's not trying to race you, I'm sure he has a good reason for passing you…."

"Well I just passed him, so hmp." Emilie pouted.

"She just passed you." Nate said. "Pass her."

"That's aggressive driving." Sakutaro said. Nate turned and glared at him.

"I do everything aggressively." She stated, scaring the boy. "Pass her back."

"How do you even have road rage? I'm the one driving…." Cassius questioned, but sped past Emilie.

* * *

"Told you!" Cassius smiled an hour later as they got onto their exit and off the interstate. "Got here in an hour. Got another 30 minutes until we get to your dad's house though."

"That's plenty of time." Nate said, turning to look at Lyra. "Could you grab my make up bag? There's no way in hell I'm showing this bruise off tonight."

"Oh, of course." Lyra nodded her head and turned around, digging around in the back of the car for the bag. She grabbed it and handed it to the blonde, who thanked her and started digging through it. "How are you going to hide that?"

"I can pull it off." She shrugged. "Hopefully. Please hold this." She handed a mirror to Carlos and adjusted it so she could see her neck.

* * *

"This is your house, right?" Emilie asked, stopping abruptly in front of Lucia's house.

"Yes, thank you for getting me home so quickly.." She said, slightly afraid that she was going to start the car and drive off again. Saturn helped her out of the car and Emilie glared at him.

"Get her bags!" She whispered harshly from the driver side window and he hurried to the back of the car to get her bag. He carried it up the front porch steps for her. "Too cute.." Emilie cooed, smiling at the couple. The door opened and an elderly woman came out, Lucia's grandmother. Saturn shook her hand, trying to be polite but coming off a little awkward. The grandmother smiled at him but looked a little freaked out by him, probably because of his hair. He said goodbye after a minute so or chatting and got into the car.

"Soooo?" Minuet asked, wanting to know how it went.

"I'm coming over for dinner this Saturday…" Saturn said, sounding confused. "I don't remember even talking about it but she said it right as I was leaving."

"She wants to interview you I bet!" Emilie laughed, speeding off to the next house.

* * *

"Done." Nate said as she stuffed her mirror back into her makeup bag as they pulled up in front of her dad's house. He was sitting on the porch, on the phone with someone. "All makeup applied. Be out in 5 minutes." She scrambled out of the car and pulled her stuff out of the back, running past her dad with a half-smile and a half worried expression.

"Good afternoon." Her dad said, coming over to the car. He looked in Gabi's window at Cassius. "You didn't speed, did you?"

"No sir…of course not."

"Good. Hello everyone, I'm Mr. Chem, Natalie's father."

"Hello." They all said at once and his phone rang again. He looked at the caller i.d. and sighed, walking back to the porch.

"Oh my god he hates me." Cassius grumbled. "He's never liked me at all.."

"Yeah…." Jo mumbled.

"Bye Dad I'll be home later!" Nate called out, running out of the house in a black dress with heels in one hand and a phone in the other. She jumped into the car, making Carlos scoot over. "Man he hates you Cassius."

"I knoowww!" He whined, driving off. "I've never met anyone who hated me.."

* * *

"Next house!" Emilie stopped outside of Minuet's house, and two young boys came running out. Touya got out and helped her with her bags and the boys ran around them.

"Touya! You have to come over and play with us soon!" One pleaded. "You never come over anymorreee!"

"I will soon, promise." Touya smiled. A woman came out onto the porch, scolding the two boys for running out of the house so suddenly. She smiled at Touya and hugged him, looking happy to see him while Minuet looked a little embarrassed. After a few minutes, he returned to the car.

"How'd it go?" Emilie asked as she backed out of the driveway.

"Well I told her I was taking Minuet to prom and she was very excited." Touya smiled. "Her brothers were like, 'eewwww' because they didn't see why anyone wanted to take their sister to prom. She hit them over the head."

"Discipline!" Emile said happily in an approving way.

"Yeah, and I'm also invited to dinner Saturday…" Touya looked back at Saturn and shrugged. "I'm surprised to see her mom home, she's usually at work."

"Everyone's parents are always working.." Emilie mumbled, driving towards Touya's house.

* * *

"Just let me jump out of the car." Nate said, ready at the door. "If my mom sees you she'll talk to you."

"Don't be dramatic.." Cassius pulled into the drive way and Nate hurried out but groaned as her mother emerged from the garage.

"There you are!" She exclaimed, then noticed Cassius and the car full of people. "Cassius!" She smiled and hurried over to his window. He rolled in down and she kissed his cheek. "How are you doing dear? Oh, who's this?" She asked, looking at Gabi. "Hello, I'm Trish, Natalie's mother!" She shook her hand happily.

"Gabi, ma'am."

"Oh, Gabi?" She asked with raised eyebrows and smiled at Cassius, whose face was bright red and he looked back at her. "I've heard about you. So nice to meet you!" She moved to Jo's window next. "Hello!"

"I'm Jo." Jo shook her hand.

"I'm Carlos." Carlos grinned and shook her hand, practically dripping with charm.

"So nice to meet you too! What a charming young man you are!"

"Oh my god." Nate groaned, glaring at Carlos.

"I'm Lyra!" Lyra exclaimed, poking her head out of the back. She shook Trish's hand happily.

"I'm Sakutaro!" Sakutaro greeted.

"Proton." Proton mumbled, not enjoying the woman's cheerful attitude.

"Okay that's everyone let's get inside." Nate said, trying to usher her mom into the house.

"It's so nice to meet some of others Nate's friends. I was starting to think she didn't have that many." Trish said and Nate's face went red.

"MOM!" She shouted. "I have tons of friends!"

"Not those little thugs you hang around…and 'tons' is bit dramatic…" Her mother mumbled, not realizing the car was full of other thugs.

"Bye everyone." Nate said, pulling her mom off, who waved at all of them.

"Okay. How is that her mother?" Gabi asked once they pulled out of the driveway. "She's so happy…and friendly…"

"I was wondering that too.." Sakutaro said.

"She's like her mom in a lot of ways, Nate just isn't a people person." Cassius shrugged. "I love her mom. She always gives me the best presents and makes Nate be super nice to me."

* * *

"This is me." Gabi said as they stopped in front of a house.

"I'll get your bags." Cassius said, climbing out of the car and going to the back of it to get her bags.

"Aw, how sweet." Jo said glaring at Carlos. "Why didn't you do that for Nate?"

"What? No way." Carlos grumbled. "She'd think it was weird if I did that, plus, she was out of the car before I realized it."

"Wait you like Nate?" Sakutaro asked.

"Dammit!" Carlos groaned. "No, I don't."

"Yes he does!"

"Hush." Carlos said, not wanting to talk about this anymore. They watched as Cassius shook the hand of a woman.

"That's Gabi's foster parent." Jo explained. Another person came out of the house, a younger teenage boy, who looked at Cassius like he was judging him, before he shook his hand. "And that's the other foster child. He's like Gabi's brother." The woman waved to all of them, wanting to come and meet them but Gabi shook her head, remembering how embarrassed Nate was about what he mother said. Gabi didn't wanna take a chance of being embarrassed as well.

Cassius slid back into the car a little while later. "That boy had a really strong grip…"

* * *

"My house!" Jo exclaimed, getting out of the car and grabbing her things. An older male came out of the house and grabbed her bags from her.

"That's her older brother." Proton said. "She lives with him and her older sister. Her parents left them when she was young." Lyra looked at him and he shrugged. "She's not the only one who knows about other people's personal lives."

* * *

"Me." Sakutaro said and got out to get his bags.

"Welcome home sweetie." His mother called from the front door. She hurried down the stairs to meet everyone in the car. "Nice to meet all of you. Thank you for taking my little boy with all of you.

"Mom…" He grumbled.

"Not a problem, he's great." Cassius smiled, shaking her hand.

"I'm just glad he found a good bunch of people to hang out with." She said and Sakutaro pulled her away, much like Nate did.

"She thinks we're good." Carlos said, chuckling.

* * *

"My house." Lyra said and got out of the car. Cassius and Carlos turned to look at Proton and he sighed, getting out of the car to help Lyra with her bags.

"Hello dear!" Her mother said and opened the door for Proton to bring the bags in. "Hello again Proton, how are you?"

"Just fine ma'am, how are you?"

"Great! So glad to see Lyra has such a gentleman friend." She smiled at him and he nodded, a small smile on his face. Carlos and Cassius smirked from inside the car and he glared at them.

"Did you two have fun?"

"Oh, tons!" Lyra exclaimed. "I have tons of pictures to show you! Thank you for helping me with my bags." She said, turning to Proton. He just nodded his head and hurried back to the car.

"Lame ass." Carlos grumbled. "Didn't even hug her?"

"Oh shut up." Proton said.

* * *

"Oh good, my brother isn't home." Carlos said as they pulled up to his house. "Don't need him trying to embarrass me."

"You do that enough." Proton chuckled and Carlos shot him the bird and grabbed his bags.

"Later." Carlos said and walked to his front door.

"Dude he hates me too." Cassius said.

"Yup."

* * *

Lyra smiled Friday morning. Wednesday and Thursday had been good days and she sure Friday was going to be a good day too.

She was so wrong. No one seemed to be talking to one another. Carlos didn't even look at Nate, who didn't even talk to Emilie, who never glanced at Minuet.

"I…I don't understand." Lyra mumbled at lunch. "The plasmas are the only ones acting normal and the aquas, sort of…"

"Who knows?" Sakutaro replied, looking at them. "Maybe something happened?"

* * *

Emilie stuffed a fry in her mouth and glared at Jupiter. She had gotten all pissy with her yesterday after school because she talked to Nate. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to be friends with people in other gangs. Bullshit. It was pissing her off. She couldn't even speak to Nate without both of their asses getting lectured it seemed. She didn't understand. She thought that they were all getting along just fine? Was it all just an act or something, because she actually liked Nate and Cassius and Carlos and Minuet and Gabi. She wanted to be friends with them.

She glanced over at the Aquas' table, giving Cassius a sad glance. He sighed in response.

"Emilie."

"What the hell? I just looked over there." She said to Jupiter. "Don't police me. I can look wherever I damn well please."

"Emilie."

"Sorry." She growled, stuffing another fry in her mouth. "Do you hear the people sing…sing the song of angry men.." She mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes.

* * *

Cassius saw Emilie sad glance and sighed. He, of course, was in trouble for being Nate's friend, but like he told Shelly many times before, she would have to get over it. It's not like she could kick him out of the gang. If she did that, he'd quit the swim team, and he was the fastest swimmer they had. Besides, Archie had already given him the role as leader of the Aquas next year.

He was just worried that this was going to ruin all of Lyra's hard work. He looked over to Gabi, who bit into her apple.

Gabi hated all the bad vibes she was getting. She wasn't on a friend basis with everyone in the gangs, but she could tell they were all pretty unhappy. Well, Minuet wasn't too bad. The plasmas didn't care who she was friends with, and she had Touya, so she was pretty happy.

Gabi was happy too, she had Cassius next to her, but she knew no one else was. It was sad to see Emilie look so defeated instead of singing or dancing, and Gabi was so used to hearing Carlos and Nate arguing, it was saddening to not even hear them speak at all. She was unsure what to do about it. Lyra even seemed down. She knew she hated to see the gangs like this, like how they were before Lyra even showed up.

Gabi looked at all of them again, wanting the bad vibes to disappear.

* * *

Nate tried to pay attention, but she suddenly didn't care. She was chewed out yesterday for being friends with Emilie and actually being nice to Carlos, so now she wasn't allowed to speak to either of them. Not allowed to be friends with people in other gangs, Cassius being the exception of course. Nate didn't even know what to do. Tabitha kept talking, but she wasn't listening. She soon realized she stopped liking the male, giving up on him after 3 years. She felt like she gave up a while ago actually, she just didn't want to admit it.

"Are you okay?" Courtney asked, nudging her.

"Hm? Oh, yeah." Nate nodded her head, but she knew that they all knew she was lying. She was pissed at Courtney and Tabitha. They were the only that bitched her out. She looked over at Carlos and caught his attention for a second

* * *

"Carlos?" Ariana asked and Carlos looked away from Nate to look at the red head. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Carlos grumbled, but she knew he was lying. Since he had been nice to Nate lately, he was immediately lectured about it. He was practically failing school and his brother kept threatening him that they were going to move if he didn't get his act together. His brother blamed his poor grades on the Rockets, saying it was distracting him, but it wasn't really. He just wasn't good at school. Now he had both his brother and Ariana and Archer breathing down his neck. Proton was the only one that seemed to understand what he was going through. He glanced at Proton for help.

Proton looked over at Carlos and saw how much Carlos wanted to punch Ariana. She really wasn't letting up on him. She wasn't letting up on Proton either. She told him it was all of Lyra's fault that they were all out of order. She didn't want Proton talking to her, but that just made Proton roll his eyes. They were upsetting Lyra, he could read that easily from the expression she had on her face as she looked at all of them. She wanted to do something, but what could she do?

"Lay off him Ariana, he's had a rough day." Proton said, silencing Ariana. He was sick of her giving Carlos shit. Carlos had told Proton not to tell anyone he was failing, so Proton didn't tell Archer or Ariana, but he knew he had to tell someone so they could help the boy. He looked over at Lyra, who offered a smile. Proton mustered up a small one, and her smile grew bigger.

"_We have a problem."_ He texted her. She got it and nodded her head.

* * *

"I have to do something." Lyra said suddenly after reading Proton's text. "I'm not going down with this sinking ship!" She had two weeks until prom. She had to fix it by then, that was her goal!

* * *

"Proton!" Lyra caught up with the male after school. She grabbed onto the sleeve of his jacket so she wouldn't lose him in the crowded hallway. "What's going on?"

"It's like I told you before, Ariana doesn't want us socializing with anyone in the other gangs. She doesn't even want me talking to you." Proton muttered, stopping at his locker. "I'm assuming the other gangs think the same way too."

"What the hell?" Lyra whined. "Why? You guys were getting along so well…."

"Yeah, I know." Proton shrugged. "And Ariana is being a super bitch to Carlos…" Proton trailed off, wondering if he should tell her or not. "And he's seriously in danger of failing this year. If he does, he has to move to god knows where. Apparently we're distracting him from school."

"What?! He is?" Lyra asked, surprised. "We've gotta help him!"

"He's too stubborn to ask for help." Proton shut his locker.

"He's going to get it! And I'm taking care of this no talking problem."

"You can't fix everything."

"Watch me." She said, determination in her eyes.

* * *

"So, how did it go with Saturn on Saturday?" Lyra asked as she sat down at lunch Monday.

"Very nice. My grandmother was on her best behavior. I was worried she was going to show him baby pictures of me in the bathtub.." Lucia mumbled. "She asked him a lot of questions about himself. She also asked him how he got his hair that blue ….."

"I don't blame her." Sakutaro said.

"That was a little embarrassing…then she asked if he was a senior and if he was taking me to prom." Lucia said. "He was going to ask me later, but since she asked him, he was just like, 'I would love to', so now we're going to prom together."

"Aw!" Jo said, smiling at her. "Check it out, we got you a man! So, Sakutaro, you're on prom committee, right? Give me the details about prom!"

While Jo grilled Sakutaro about prom, Lyra decided to launch her plan. "Hey, Lucia. You're good at science, right?"

"Yes, do you need help?" She asked.

"Well, I don't need help, but Carlos does, and I was wondering if you could tutor him. It would mean a lot to me if you said yes. No pressure or anything, of course." Lyra said, biting her lip.

"Hm, you did help me get with Saturn. Of course, I'd love to help him." Lucia smiled and Lyra jumped up and ran to the other side of the table to hug her.

"Thank you sooo much!" She exclaimed. "Now I just need a few other people…" She looked around the lunch room and headed straight for the aquas' table, seeing that Shelly wasn't there at the moment, it was perfect. "Gabi." Lyra said, getting the blonde's attention. "Hey, I was wondering if you could do a favor for me…? You're good at math, right?"

"I am, do you need help or something?" She asked.

"Actually, no, but Carlos does and I was wondering if you could tutor him? I know you aren't friends with him, but I would be super grateful if you said yes!"

Gabi thought about it for a few moments. Lyra had been a very good friend to her, even when she was cold to her. "Well….sure. I'll do it." Gabi said, surprising Cassius.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes, really. Lyra's been a very good friend and she never asks anything of me. I can do this." Gabi nodded her head and Lyra hugged her happily. Gabi was taken back, but patted Lyra's back.

"Thank you sooo much! I'll tell you about the details later. Bye!" Lyra cheered and hurried off to the Galactics table. "Hey, Emilie. No one at my table will go to the bathroom with me, will you?"

"Yes!" Emilie said immediately. "I seriously have to pee."

She and Lyra walked across the lunchroom and towards the bathroom. "Okay, I have a favor to ask you. I need you to help Carlos is breeding class. He's failing and he needs to pass and you're a genius in that class."

"Sure. He's funny, I don't mind helping him." Emilie shrugged and hurried into the bathroom stall. Lyra waited until she came out and was washing her hands to continue.

"Thank you so much. I'll tell you about the details later. He doesn't know that I'm asking people to help him.."

"He doesn't? Ah, he'll get over it. So, are you going to get us to be allowed to talk to each other again?" Emilie asked. "I have like, 5 new cds I want to share with Nate and this super funny joke I want to tell Minuet, but the boss won't lemme." Emilie said, referring to Jupiter.

"I will fix it. I'm working on a plan now, I just wanted to help Carlos first. I need to find someone who is good at mythology."

"Just ask Nate. That's her best subject. She lives for that sort of stuff." Emilie dried her hands. "She'll do it. She acts like she dislikes Carlos, but they're friends."

"I'll try…" Lyra mumbled. The two left the bathroom together and Lyra headed over to the Magma table. "Hey, Nate, could I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure. I need a drink anyway." She said, getting out of her seat. "C'mon." Lyra followed Nate over to a vending machine. "What do you need to talk to me about?" She dug around in her pockets for change.

"It's about Carlos." Lyra said and Nate almost dropped her quarters.

"Uh, what about him?" She asked.

"Well he's failing and Lucia, Gabi, and Emilie agreed to tutor him in science, math, and breeding class, but I need someone to tutor him in mythology." Lyra explained as Nate put the change into the machine. "And he's way too stubborn to ask for help himself."

"Figures." Nate said, pulling her water out of the machine.

"And if he doesn't pass, his brother says that they're going to move, because he believes that the gang is the reason he's failing." Lyra said.

"Moving?" Nate asked, surprised. "Where?"

"I dunno. If he passes, they won't move and I know you don't get along with hi-"

"I'll do it." Nate interrupted. "I'm not going to just watch him fail. Besides, I owe him."

"Thank you!" Lyra squealed, hugging Nate tightly.

"Okay…" She said, looking around awkwardly. "People are staring."

"Oh, sorry." She said, letting her go.

"It's okay. Just tell me when I need to tutor him." Nate said and walked back to her table. Lyra shot Proton a smile and a thumbs up.

* * *

"I can't believe she did it.." Proton muttered, looking at the excited Lyra.

"Did what?" Carlos asked, looking over at Proton. The two now sat next to each other at lunch so Proton could help him with his essays for lit class.

"Just saved your stubborn ass." Proton told him. "She got you a few tutors."

"Tutors?" He questioned. "Who?"

"Lucia, Gabi, Emilie, and Nate."

"Seriously? How did she get them all to say yes?"

"She's Lyra, that's how. She does the impossible." Proton smirked, wondering just how Lyra was going to fix all of this.

* * *

**Dudes I just wanna go to the beach.**

**I predict like, 2 or 3 more chapters, plus an epilogue chapter that I basically already have planned. **

**Thanks for sending me info on your characters! Hope you like this chapter, sorry if you don't.**

**I'm tired and hungry but it's like 1am and no place around here is open. **

**If you have ANYTHING you want to tell me about your character, speak now or forever shut it because this is the LAST time I'll be asking. I know a few of you are probably a little mad that other characters get in the story more, but that's because their creators send in things that go along with the plot. They give me things about their characters that I can use during the story. **

**Thanks for reviewing. Bonus love if you know the song I named the chapter after. **


	20. Chapter 20: Enter Alone Together

**SORRY IF I'M VAGUE WITH THE FORUMLA OF VELOCITY BUT GUYS I HONESTLY DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT 11****TH**** GRADE SCIENCE EXCEPT THAT MY FRIEND TALKED TO ME SO MUCH IN THAT CLASS THAT WE BOTH ALMOST FAILED IT.**

**LOTS OF TIME SKIPS IN THIS I KNOW GAH I SUCK WHY IS THERE SO MANY**

**Funny story time: Up the street at this Mexican restaurant there's this waiter named Carlos and he and my parents are buds and he's like 24 and he's so flirty and funny he reminds me of the Carlos in the story. He was goofing off tonight when we got dinner and both of the waitresses were like, "CARRRLOSSS!" And he jumped up and ran over to our table to see if we needed something and they all started laughing. It was great. **

**I feel like I should give y'all a playlist of songs to listen to for this chapter. Get your computer ready, because you will need to look up a few songs.**

**I don't know how to dance or how to describe it so they are going to twirl a lot because I love it when guys twirl and spin girls when they dance.**

* * *

It was Tuesday afternoon as Carlos sighed and stared down at the piece of paper in front of him. Lucia sat in the chair next to him, reading a book. "Okay, I don't get it."

"I gave you the formula, are you unsure how to work through it?" She questioned, putting her book down, getting a little frustrated. This was the first tutoring session they had and she soon realized it was going to be difficult.

"No clue…"

"Alright, let me break it down for you." She scooted her chair over and grabbed another pencil, pulling the sheet towards her. The library around them was crowded, but the volume level was very low. Carlos hated it. "You're trying to find the velocity, correct?"

"Uhm, yeah."

"Alright, so what would you use in this problem to figure it out?" Lucia asked. "Re-read it and underline anything that might help you." Carlos just stared at the paper and back at her. "Alright," she sighed "you need this, this, and this." She underlined numbers in the problem as she spoke. "Right here is the formula, can you plug those numbers into it?"

Carlos made a face, biting the inside of his cheek, but started placing the numbers in the formula.

"Not there." Lucia stopped him. "Rightttt here." She wrote it for him and he sighed for the millionth time. They were both getting frustrated and it was only the first 10 minutes of the whole two hours.

Lyra had planned it all out for them. Every day at lunch Proton would help him with Lit since Proton was very good at it, Monday was breeding with Emilie, Tuesday was science with Lucia, Wednesday was math with Gabi, Thursday was an hour with Gabi and an hour with Lucia because he really needed help in math and science and they were good at both of those subjects, and Friday was mythology with Nate. Lyra said that the public library was a great place to study and it had study rooms for privacy. Carlos hated the rooms. All the sound was blocked off and he couldn't concentrate.

"Can you figure out the problem or do I need to do it for you?" Lucia asked. He just looked at her. "Okay, pay attention…" She started to work on the equation and he focused in on it, knowing he had to get this or there was no chance he'd pass. She did a few problems for him, writing the steps out, and then picked her book back up again. "Now you do one."

"Alright…"

* * *

"How did the tutoring go yesterday?" Lyra asked during gym class the next day.

"It could have been worse." Carlos muttered, tired. "It takes me 5 minutes to do a problem, but I can do it. Sort of."

"That's great!" Lyra said enthusiastically. "After a couple more weeks, you'll have all A's."

"I'm shooting for very high C's." Carlos said.

* * *

"How did tutoring with Carlos go yesterday?" Lyra asked Lucia at lunch.

"Ah, well, it takes him a while…but…he can get it." She said, getting frustrated just thinking about it. "It's not going to be easy."

"Don't get frustrated." Sakutaro said, patting his friend's shoulder. "I know you get a little irritated when people can't get it."

"A little." She sighed. "But he's trying, so I can't get too mad at him."

"Yeah!" Jo nodded her head. "So, Sakutaro, tell me about prom."

"It's a secret!" He whined. "We went over this yesterday."

"Everyone ends up spilling. I just have to be persistent." Jo smirked. "So, come up with a way to get everyone to talk again?"

"Ah, not yet." Lyra said. "I think I might wait until after prom…it's only two weeks away. Maybe after prom they'll just return to normal?"

"Good luck. School ends two weeks after prom, so you gotta hop on it."

"I know." Lyra sighed. She didn't have much time to come up with a good plan. She was busy with school work so she hadn't thought about it much. Plus, the school was in the middle of prom fever. Everyday someone was being ask to prom in a very obnoxious way. Over the announcements, in the middle of lunch, with huge banners and such, and it was cute, but kind of annoying.

* * *

"Okay, you know how to do any of this?" Gabi asked, looking at Carlos.

"Uh…" He said, looking down at it. "A few…"

"That's fine, let's practice on some of the easier ones first." She nodded her head and started to point at easier problems for him to do. "It's simple, it just takes practice. On this one, you need to find x. It doesn't look like, but you actually have everything you need to solve it. You plug x into this equation.." She trailed off, showing him how to do it. "Alright, you do the next one…"

"Fine." He said picking up a pencil and pulling the sheet towards him. He racked his brain and tried to figure it out.

"Take your time." She said sincerely. "We've got plenty of time."

"It's just…I can't do this when Cassius is staring at me." Carlos said, looking up. The room they were in had glass windows showing the rest of the library, and Cassius was sitting at a table on the other side, watching them.

"He drove me here…and he's just a little…protective."

"You know, yesterday with Lucia, Saturn walked around the library while she tutored me." Carlos stared back at Cassius before looking down at the worksheet.

"I'll tell him to go walk around." Gabi stood up and left the room. Cassius looked worried, but she ruffled his hair and he sighed, walking off to go look at some books. "Problem solved." Gabi said as she entered the room again. "Did you solve the problem?"

"I think so." Carlos said, sliding the paper back to her.

"Hm…you were close." She said, looking over his work. "You need to write your work neater, alright? It'll make it easier to see..."

* * *

"How did it go yesterday?"

"It was okay…she was nice to me…but Cassius kept staring at me..." Carlos mumbled in gym the next day. "I sort of got it..."

"You'll get to practice more on it and science today." Lyra told him. "You'll get it, just don't give up."

* * *

"So, how did it go?" Lyra asked, sitting next to Gabi at lunch. Shelly was too distracted by a grunt that she didn't even notice Lyra at the table.

"He was okay." Gabi shrugged. "He knows what's he's doing…he's just unsure of himself. I think Cassius freaked him out."

"My bad." Cassius said, not caring.

* * *

"Hey, Saturn said he'll give me a ride to the library!" Gabi called out and Cassius popped his head out of the water. It smelled of chlorine in the pool gym.

"What now?" Cassius asked, swimming over to the edge of the pool. He pulled his goggles up onto his swim cap and looked at her. "Couldn't hear you."

"Saturn is giving me a ride to the library." Gabi repeated, and Cassius pouted. "I'll see you later."

"Aw, I don't get a goodbye kiss?" He asked, pulling himself out of the water halfway. Gabi rolled her eyes and pushed him into the water. She waited for him to resurface, but he didn't.

"Cassius?" Gabi asked, starting to get panicked. She leaned close to the water and fell back onto the ground when he popped out.

"Ha!" He laughed and she glared at him.

"T-That wasn't funny!" She told him.

"You mad at me? Does that mean you don't want to go to prom with me?" He asked.

"What?" She questioned. Was he asking her to prom? "Prom? Yes, I'll go to prom with you!"

"Sweet. That would have been horrible if you said no." Cassius said, relieved. "Now go help Carlos. If he messes with you, tell me. I'll drown him."

* * *

"Look…" Emilie stated on Thursday as they sat in the library. Since they had a quiz on Friday in breeding class, they decided to just tutor for an hour and then Gabi and Lucia would come in to help him with Science and Math. "This is simple. You can do it..."

"I just don't get how they can create an egg."

"They just can." Emilie said, shrugging. "Don't focus on that one, work on this one." She pointed towards an easier problem. "Certain pokemon have abilities that make it easier for eggs to hatch faster."

"Okay."

"So, remember these, got it? That's what the quiz will be on tomorrow." She said, highlighting them. "You get an A or B on this quiz, it'll pull you up to a low C."

"I can do that." Carlos nodded his head.

"Good. So, you excited to get tutored by Nate tomorrow?"

"Not really." Carlos murmured.

"Don't lie to me. You two are so cute together! Not as cute as Cheren and I, of course. You want to hear how he asked me to prom?"

"Not really." He repeated.

"Get the hell over it, I'm going to tell you anyway." Emilie said. "He gave me this beautiful copy of Les Miserables, and in it was a bookmark that said, 'Prom?' How sweet is that!?"

"Cute." He said, yawning.

"You just don't appreciate romance."

"I'm tired…"

"Well, wake up. Here comes Gabi and Lucia."

* * *

"I don't appreciate romance." Carlos said as Lyra asked him how it went with Emilie.

* * *

"He doesn't appreciate romance." Emilie told Lyra when she asked him how it went with Carlos Friday afternoon at lunch.

"No one does anymore." Sakutaro said as Emilie walked over to her table.

"Morty asked me to prom!" Jo squealed as she sat down. "It wasn't anything big or super romantic. He looked nervous and it was so cute. I just can't wait! He's coming over to meet my siblings tonight!"

"Congrats!" Lyra told her, smiling at her friend.

"Proton hasn't asked you?" Jo asked in disbelief. Lyra shook her head and she sighed. "Must be too nervous…"

* * *

"Are you going to ask Lyra to prom?" Carlos asked as they got their trays of food and headed towards their lunch table. "What if someone else asks her?"

"No…then she can go with them. She probably already has a date." Proton said, thinking of all the guys she was friends with. Lance, Ethan, Silver, the list went on and on.

"I can find out if she does or not." Carlos suggested.

"No." Proton said, shaking his head. Carlos rolled his eyes. "Are you not going to ask anyone to prom?"

"I have other things to worry about." Carlos grumbled. "I got an 80 on my breeding quiz, so my grade should be pulled up a little, but I got a 76 on my science quiz, so Lucia won't be too happy."

"You're getting there. You understand what you're doing in the classes?"

"Sort of…better than before." Carlos shrugged, sitting down at the table. "Just gotta survive mythology today."

* * *

"How do I tell these two apart?" Carlos asked, looking at Nate. He could barely focus. He kept sneaking looks at her as she flipped through one of the many books she had.

"Latias, is red, a girl, and the small one. Latios is blue, a boy, and the larger one. Remember, the 'o' in Latios. 'O' stands for ocean, oceans are blue, Latios is blue." Nate said, opening up another book she had to show him. It was her book, he could tell. Things were highlighted with sticky notes everywhere, sticking out the sides and top. Different colors representing different things. "Plus, Latias is my favorite."

"I would think a fire one would be your favorite..." He said, taking note of what Nate told him. "Not some…" He trailed off, not knowing what type Latias was.

"Dragon and psychic." Nate finished for him. "The quiz Monday is over them and Jirachi, do you think you can handle it? Don't forget the Regis."

"All three of them?"

"Yes, steel, ice, and rock, oh, and Regigigas." Nate said, flipping a few pages in her book, showing him a picture of each pokemon. "It's simple. They all live in different places. You'll be able to tell the difference. Keep working on the review sheet."

She went back to her book and Carlos went back to his sheet of paper. "I'll be right back." She said, getting up and leaving the room. He watched her disappear between shelves and looked back at his sheet. When she returned, he was almost done with. Amazing what he could do when she wasn't sitting there distracting him.

"Get enough books?" He asked as she piled 4 more onto her stack of 5.

"No." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I brought Lily to help me…you take this one." She nodded towards Lily, who sat outside at a table and waved at them happily, then Nate pushed a book towards him. "It's for the Regis. You need to read it this weekend. I refuse to let you fail this class and have to move somewhere."

"Thanks." Carlos mumbled, flipping through the book. "I just want to go to sleep."

"Not happening." Nate said, looking at him. "You gotta get those grades up."

"Hmp, why do you care?" He said, getting cranky.

"Because I can." Nate told him. "Finish the worksheet."

* * *

"No no no." Emilie said, shaking her head as they pulled out dresses. "No, try this short red one." She pushed one towards Lyra. "None of these dresses work for me."

"Why not?"

"I want to make Cheren's jaw drop!" Emilie said, pushing Lyra into a dressing room.

"How about this one?" Minuet asked, coming out of a dressing room. They (Nate, Lily, Jo, Gabi, Lyra, Minuet, Lucia, and Emilie) decided that prom was a huge exception to the 'no talking to other gangs' rule. They needed to find perfect dresses. So, Saturday afternoon they decided to spend all day looking for prom dresses. Minuet twirled in her long leaf green dress. It was flowy and had two silver straps.

"It brings out your eyes!" Emilie cheered. "Gabi, get out here."

"Uh.." She mumbled, coming out in a light blue dress. It was long and was a one strap dress.

"Beautiful! We found dresses for you two!" Emilie exclaimed, nodding her head in an approving way. "Lucia, lemme see the dress."

"Ah, I dunno." She mumbled, peaking her head out of the dressing room. She came out and Emilie smiled at her.

"Cute dress!" She said. The short navy blue dress was lacy and looked perfect on the auburn haired girl.

"That's so cute!" Nate said, smiling at Lyra. She had a short red dress that poofed out all around her.

"Oh my gosh that's way too cute!" Lily squealed, very excited. "If Proton isn't impressed by it, you'll have any boy in the room, except for Flint, of course." Lily smiled.

"I don't think he likes me…" Lyra sighed.

"Don't think like that. He's just…" Minuet trailed off. "He's just not the type to show it, you know? He's been cold and cruel up until you showed up."

"Yeah, he's gotten so much nicer." Gabi said. "He actually smiles…."

"Not because of me." Lyra said, shaking her head.

"Dude, obviously you don't see how he looks at you." Minuet told her.

"He came running to save you at the beach." Lily said. "He likes you! He's just unsure. He might not ask you to prom, but he will definitely dance with you. Especially in that dress!"

"Well Flint will flip when he sees you in that dress." Lyra said, trying to get off the topic. The blonde was dressed in a long light pink dress with a sweetheart top.

"Don't change the subject." Nate said.

"I love your dress too!" Lyra exclaimed, but the girl just stared at her.

"It's just a black dress." Nate said, looking down at the short strapless dress. It had ruffles around the bottom and a sparkly belt.

"Nate!" Minuet rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to get all dressed up."

"This is a prom dress." Nate stated. "And this is my junior prom, so I don't care. Plus, I'm going with Volkner. I have no guy to impress."

"What about Carlos?" Jo asked from inside her dressing room. She came out in a white dress with a black flower design going down the side.

"Love it." Emilie said. "Yeah, what about Carlos?"

"What about him?" Nate asked, confused. "He's Carlos…."

"You two are perfect together!" Emilie exclaimed.

"Uh, no." Nate said and went back into her dressing room to hide her pink face. "Don't say things like that. He's super into Courtney."

"Stop being tsundere." Lily said. "He's barely been giving her any attention!"

"I'm not tsundere!" Nate growled. "He's busy studying."

"Just accept who you are." Emilie said and laughed. "And you obviously don't see the way he looks at you."

"Unless Lyra can fix our problem, I doubt they'll get together." Gabi said. "Do you have a plan yet?"

"I'm coming up with one. It's just, prom, and, school…" Lyra trailed off. "I plan to do whatever I do after prom. I just gotta come up with something good."

"Make it good." Minuet said.

* * *

"Sooooo." Jo said, coming up to Proton in the hallway at school Tuesday morning. "Are you going to ask Lyra to prom?"

"What?" He asked, looking down at the blue haired girl.

"You have to." Emilie said, coming up to Proton's other side. "I will force you."

"No thanks." Proton shook his head. "I'm sure she has tons of other guys lined up for prom."

"What? No! You need to ask her." Jo told him, shaking his arm. "Do you not want to go with her?"

"I'm not talking about this with you two." Proton said, shaking them off. He didn't even want to talk about this with himself. He didn't want to think about it at all."I have exams I need to study for." He slid into a classroom and Emilie and Jo sighed.

"He's just running away from his feelings." Emilie shook her head.

* * *

Proton sat in his desk and looked down at it. Maybe they were right. He did like Lyra, a lot. He didn't like that he liked her, but she was so cute and sweet and funny it sort of disgusted him. Ariana had been bitching to him a lot lately, saying he 'got soft' ever since Lyra came around. Was that really so bad? He had three weeks left of high school. No one cared if he had gotten soft. He didn't care that much anymore.

He didn't want to think about it all. He had way too many things he needed to study for and prom really wasn't important. He really didn't know what to do.

* * *

"Stay still.." Nate mumbled, putting eye liner on Lyra. It was the day of prom and Nate's house was now overrun by all the girls. "Let me get this right."

"Lyra, don't squirm. The longer you take the longer it takes for me to get my makeup done and Touya is picking me up in an hour." Minuet said, playing with her curly hair. "Then we have to go take pictures and I think my mom is going to cry.."

"Lucia! Let me finish your hair." Lily whined, making the girl sit on the stool again as she pulled it back into a half updo. "Now your bangs are out of your face."

"Done." Nate said and Lyra jumped up so Minuet could sit down. Gabi was sitting on Nate's bed, her makeup all done and her hair pinned up in a neat bun, with strands of hair loose and very curly. Jo sat next to her with her hair kept out of her face with a headband.

"You guys look so good!" Lyra exclaimed, smiling at them. "Cassius and Morty will be in shock."

"Psh, Cheren's jaw better hit the damn floor when he sees me." Emilie said, coming into the room. She had on her lavender prom dress that was looked like it was draped across her perfectly. Her hair was down in big curls and was almost as long as Minuet's hair.

"It will." Jo said. "Thanks for doing out hair and make up." She said to Lily and Nate.

"I'm happy to help!" Lily smiled, her curls hitting her face when she turned her head to smile at the girl.

"No problem." Nate shrugged, putting blush on Minuet. Her hair was curled and pinned so it would come over her shoulder. "Proton better dance with you Lyra."

"I'll force him to." Emilie said.

"Let's not do that." Gabi said swiftly. "He will dance with her. Give him some time. Carlos told me all about how Proton likes her."

* * *

Lyra showed up an hour after prom started with Ethan and Silver. Neither boys had dates, and Lyra didn't have a date, so they just went together. The lunch area was all decked out in decorations. The theme was 'Party Along the Mediterranean Sea', so each part of the room was decorated like each country that had a coastline along the sea.

She saw Touya and Minuet already on the dance floor, and Flint was twirling Lily around happily to the beat of the song. Other couples were on the floor as well, but Lyra didn't care much for them. She spotted Proton sitting at a table with Ariana, Petrel, Archer, and Carlos. She wanted to go over, but she decided against it, not wanting Proton to get in trouble because of her.

"Let's dance!" Ethan exclaimed while pulling both Silver and Lyra onto the floor.

"Glad you see you finally showed up!" Minuet shouted over the music as Lyra got onto the dance floor. Touya twirled her and she giggled.

"I've never seen you without a hat on." Cheren said to Touya as Emile dragged him onto the dancefloor.

"Minuet knocked it off my head." He explained.

"Don't wear hats to prom." She scolded, but laughed again as the song changed to a group dance. Lyra quickly learned the steps and was in sync with everyone on the dance floor in a matter of seconds.

"Don't tell me I missed the Cha Cha Slide!" Cassius whined as he came up to them with Gabi. "Only dance I know how to do."

"You just missed it." Lyra said. "The DJ will play it later though." A fast pace song started ad everyone on the floor started to do their own dance.

"I cannot dance." Cassius said.

"I can't either." Lily said. "But let's give it a go anyway! You know, Proton hasn't taken his eyes off you."

"What?" Lyra asked and glanced towards his table. Sure enough, he was watching her. She smiled at him and he gave a nod to her. She turned back towards Lily with a smile.

* * *

Proton watched Lyra dance and sighed. He really should go ask her to dance. He knew he liked her. He knew everyone knew that he liked her. He knew she liked him. The odds were in his favor, but he couldn't bring himself to get up. The song faded off and another started. It was a rock song, but many couples started to slow dance with each other, taking it for a romantic song. Carlos jumped up and smirked at Proton, then walked toward Lyra.

Oh hell no.

* * *

**(Sorry to interrupt, but if possible, you should definitely listen to 'Alone Together' by Fall Out Boy as you read the next part, seeing as it is the song that is playing in this scene.)**

Ethan and Silver called it quits, both tired. Lyra was going to sit this song out, since she didn't have a partner.

"Want to dance?" Carlos asked, grabbing her hand.

"No." Proton said, putting his hand in Carlos' face and pushing him away. "I'm dancing with her." Carlos rolled his eyes and pouted, but chuckled and went to find someone else to dance with. Proton turned towards Lyra and put his hands around her waist and she put her's on his shoulders.

"Finally decided to come dance with me?" She asked playfully.

"Yeah…" Proton said, looking at her. He didn't know what to really say. Lyra didn't either. He took a deep breath, deciding to just start talking. "Ariana is probably burning holes in the back of my skull with her eyes because I'm dancing with you. She's been telling me that I've gotten so soft because of you and that I'm not mean anymore. But you know, I don't want to be mean or cruel anymore if it means you won't be around. I really like having you around. You're so helpful and cheerful. Normally I'd find that so irritating and I hated that I was drawn to you. I treated you differently and it freaked me out." He sighed, not looking her in the eye. His face was on fire. "But when I saw that Sangem thug grab you, it drove me insane. I wanted to beat the shit out of that guy for touching you and hurting you. I didn't want anyone touching you, except me."

Lyra bit her lip, her face probably as red as her dress

"I know Ariana will kill me if I asked you out, but I sort of don't give a shit about what she thinks or what she says. So, do you want to go out with me?" He asked, his heart beating as fast as it could. He said it so calmly, but he was nervous as hell. 'Say Yes. Say Yes.' His mind repeated, matching the lyrics to the song they were dancing too.

Lyra couldn't believe it. He was asking her out. Proton was asking her out. The cruel and mean male was standing in front of her, his hands around her waist, his face red and his eyes looking away, nervous as hell. She made him nervous. She made a big bad gang member act this way.

"Of course!" She exclaimed, realizing she was taking a long time to reply. "Of course I'll go out with you." She smiled and almost fell over when he smiled back at her. It wasn't one of his small smiles or smirks, it was a real smile. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her's. It was quick, since teachers supervising were watching for PDA. Lyra almost squealed, trying to hold back her excitement, but she knew she had a huge smile on her face. She pulled him closer and rested her head on his chest.

"Finally!" Jo sang as she Morty twirled her. "How adorable!"

"It finally happened?" Gabi asked.

"I missed it! Do it AGAIN!" Emilie exclaimed, upset she missed all of it.

"She said yes." Proton said simply. Lyra heard another song start.

"YES!" Cassius exclaimed. It was the Cha-Cha Slide. "This is my jam."

Lyra just smiled at Proton as he did the dance, getting into it. "You're a great dancer."

"I'm trying." He said, hearing the hint of sarcasm in her voice. "What the hell is Charlie brown?"

"I actually don't know." She said as the song ordered them to do the move. "Why does everyone jump when he says to hop?"

"You want to try hopping in those heels?" He asked, laughing.

"No way am I hopping in my outfit." Emilie shook her head. "I need to look fabulous all night. Last thing I need is a rip or tear."

"Jumping is easier." Gabi agreed, lifting her dress as they slid to the right.

"Cha Cha realllll smooth!" Jo sang, elbowing Morty when he laughed at her. "I'll Cha Cha right over you with my heels on."

"You go girl." Minuet cheered.

Lyra laughed and smiled at Proton. She took his hand as the song ended. "Let's keep dancing!" She pleaded.

"Let's go get something to drink first." He pulled her towards the drink table. "You've been on the dancefloor for a while…"

"Okay everyone! I'm about to play a medley of tons of romance songs, so grab a girl or boy and get on the floor!" The dj announced, starting a song.

* * *

**Mermaid - Train**

"Oh, I love this song." Gabi said as she danced to the beat of the song. It wasn't fast paced, it was calm and simple.

"Beauty in the water, angel on the beach. Ocean's daughter, I thought love was out of reach, 'til I got her. Had I known it could come true? I would have wished in '92, for a mermaid just like you." Cassius sang along, and twirled Gabi around, smiling at her. "I didn't know Train wrote a song about you."

"Oh hush." She said and smiled at him, hitting his arm lightly.

"It's trueeee!" He smirked, pulling her closer to him. "You're the prettiest mermaid I've ever seen, in and out of the water."

"You're just being a suck up." Gabi shook her head.

"All the girl fish in the sea, Couldn't hold a candle to you. They don't have a handle on you. They don't have a scandal on you." He sang quickly to keep up with the pace of the song. "I'll keep singing until you accept it. They obviously wrote this song about you."

* * *

**A Heart Full of Love – Les Mis**

Emilie squealed as she heard the song come on. "I can't believe they're playing this song!"

"It took a lot for me to convince him to play it. I won't sing it though sorry. I don't know the words and I'm sure you can sing it far better than I ever could." Cheren replied and Emilie hugged him tightly.

"I love this song!" She exclaimed. "You're so sweet."

"I knew it'd make your night." He shrugged and Emilie kissed him before hugging him tightly again, singing all the words to the song. She sighed happily and rested her chin on his shoulder.

* * *

**Treasure – Bruno Mars (Warning, the speaking part before the song has a cuss word. Just letting you know in case you wanted to play it in front of your parents. Baby squirrel is a sassy motherfucker.)**

"Give me your, give me your, give me your attention baby. I gotta tell you a little something about yourself. You're wonderful, flawless, ooh you're a sexy lady!" Touya pointed at Minuet and pulled her onto the dance floor and away from the drink table. "Honey, you're my golden star."

"I better be." She said playfully and danced to the disco like song. Lights were flashing everywhere and it was an incredibly fun song to dance to.

"You can make my wish come true, if you let me treasure you." Touya said. "Pretty girl, pretty girl, pretty girl you should be smiling. A girl like you should never look so blue."

"I am smiling."

"You're everything I see in my dreams. I wouldn't say that to you if it wasn't true." He said seriously and busted out in disco moves.

"Now you're just being a dork." She ruffled his hair and pulled him off the dance floor. "Let's get you some water."

* * *

**I Would Do Anything For You – Foster the People **

"This is the song that was playing on our first date." Lucia said after the sing started.

"I know, I requested it. I knew you'd remember it." Saturn said and she smiled at him and pulled him close.

"I thought you said you didn't like this song?" Lucia asked, putting her head on his shoulder.

"You like it, so I can stand it.." Saturn muttered, wrapping his arms around her. It sped up a little, but not much.

"I just love the background piano in this song." Lucia murmured happily. She knew Saturn secretly loved this song. She could hear him mumbling the lyrics. It was very soothing and Lucia closed her eyes, enjoying it all.

* * *

**Follow Me – Muse (A must listen to, gorgeous song.)**

The song changed drastically and a slow dark song came on. Morty pulled Jo closely to him. "When darkness falls and surrounds you. When you fall down. When you're scared, and you're lost. Be brave. I'm, coming to hold you now. When all your strength has gone and you feel wrong. Like your life has slipped away." He sang quietly into her ear and the song started to pick up as electronic beats started to sound. "Follow me, you can follow me and I, I will not desert you now." He said a bit louder over the music. It was dark on the danced floor with beams of different colored lights going everywhere.

They started to dance faster during the chorus." You can follow me, you can follow me. I will always keep you safe. Follow me, you can trust in me. I will always protect you, my love." He smiled down at her and she hugged him tightly, resting her head on his chest.

* * *

**Starlight – Taylor Swift**

"Oh my, what a marvelous tune!" Lily giggled, singing along to the song as Flint took her hand and led her onto the dancefloor. "This is such a perfect night."

"Any night is perfect when you spend it with me." Flint smirked and Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, any night is perfect when I get to spend it with you."

"You're making me blush." Lily laughed and he twirled her around. She was incredibly happy. She just hoped she didn't trip. That would be so embarrassing. She'd never be able to live it down.

* * *

**Madness – Muse**

Another Muse song started and Carlos looked around the room boredly before his eyes stopped on Nate, who was sitting at a table with Volkner and Jasmine. He jumped up and headed over to their table.

"C'mon, let's dance." He said to Nate, who looked confused. "Nateeeeee, don't deny me now." She looked at his hand before she took it. He pulled her up and onto the dancefloor.

"I don't like to dance." She grumbled, putting her arms around his neck. He put his arms around her waist and rolled his eyes at her. "I'm not expecting you to care about that though."

"You need to dance. It's prom. Not like Volkner was going to dance, and Tabitha wasn't going to either."

"I don't want to dance with Volkner or Tabitha." She stated, giving him a serious look. "Just hush and let me listen to this song." She hugged and put her head on his chest.

* * *

"Look at how cute they all are…well….Nate looks pissed but that's normal." Lyra sighed and sipped her cup of water. Proton was right, she needed a good break.

"If you never showed up to this school, none of them would be together." Proton said. "You should be proud of yourself."

"I am!" Lyra exclaimed. "But I'm still not done."

* * *

"So, how did you Lit exam go?" Emilie asked Monday afternoon as they sat in the library. It was exam week and Carlos had taken his English exam today.

"I actually think I did well. Proton is really good at teaching." Carlos said. He was sure he made a high B on it. "But…I got a 72 on my mythology quiz." He was so tired and just wanted to sleep. He was getting cranky too and wasn't acting like himself. He hated it, but he couldn't help it. He was trying his hardest to make sure he didn't fail.

"Oh, Nate won't be happy to hear that." Emilie grumbled. "Oh! Go find this book, okay?" She said, scribbling on a piece of scratch paper. "It's was Professor Elm bases most of his lessons off of, so it will definitely help with the Breeding exam tomorrow." She slid the paper towards him and he took it, getting up to go wander the library. He went down an aisle, thinking he was close to the section the book should be in.

He ran straight into Nate, who had books in her hands. "Oh, hey." He said, unsure what to say. She looked surprised to see him.

"Hey." She greeted. "What are you doing around here?"

"Book." He said, showing her the slip of paper. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Follow me." She stated and turned around. He followed her for a minute or two before she stopped in front of an aisle. "This is the breeding section. You were in the mythology section." She told him and he felt like an idiot, not helping his mood.

"Oh…thanks…" He muttered, going down the aisle. He didn't know if he should say anything else to the girl. She was too distracting.

"How did the mythology quiz go?" She asked, following him. He looked at her.

"Uh…sort of okay." He answered. "A 72.."

"Ah, Carlos." She sighed, frowning. "That's not good."

"I know I know." He said, frustrated about it and about the fact that he couldn't find the book. "You don't have to bitch about it to me, but I know you will. That's all you ever do." He said out of anger and instantly regretted it when he looked at her. She looked surprised for a moment, not believing he had just said that to her. She then held her books tightly to her chest and had a hurt expression on her face. He opened his mouth to take it back, but her expression turned hostile, like it was before Lyra showed up at school and changed all of their lives.

"Whatever, asshole." She spat. "If you felt that way, you should have told me sooner. I didn't realize how horrible and bitchy I was to be around." She turned around and walked off.

"Na-" He started but she interrupted him.

"Fuck you." She growled, not even turning around as she hurried out of the aisle, wanting to be as far from him as possible.

Carlos rubbed his face. He really screwed this up.

* * *

**Shut up I suck at dancing and romance gah. I tried though. Story will have two more chapters. All the songs I chose are songs I usually think of when I image the couple. Sorry if you hated your song. **


	21. Chapter 21: Enter the end?

**Sorry that this chapter is short.**

* * *

"So, how was studying yesterday with Emilie?" Lyra asked Carlos as he sat across from her at lunch. Proton now sat with Lyra and her friends at lunch, and Carlos claimed that Lucia was going to help him with science at lunch, so he joined their table as well. Which, was true, she was helping him with homework. Lyra loved having both boys at her table. She got to hold Proton's hand and steal his food and be very happy with him. She also got to hear Carlos and he's little arguments that made them all laugh.

"He fucked it all up." Emilie said, overhearing them. She crouched between Jo and Lyra and shook her head.

"What? He couldn't get what you were teaching?" Jo asked. Breeding was difficult, but even she was understanding it.

"No. He ran into Nate yesterday and fucked it all up with her."

"Nooooo, I was rooting for you two." Sakutaro whined.

"What the hell did you do?" Proton asked, looking at him.

"I, uh, well, I was tired and frustrated. I was in a really foul mood." He started. "And I did bad on my mythology quiz and Nate looked really disappointed when I told her and I thought was going to say something mean to me so I told her-"

"To not be a bitch about it and that all she ever does is bitch at him." Emilie interrupted, tired of him taking forever to get to the point.

"What the hell!" Proton exclaimed.

"Dude!" Jo shook her head.

"I can't believe you said that." Lucia murmured.

"Oh Carlos…" Lyra sighed.

"I know and I feel horrible. She looked so hurt by it. She hates me now, I know it." He frowned, running a hand through his hair. "She called me an asshole and told me to fuck off. She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you." Sakutaro said. "That's probably how she reacts to things like that. She didn't want to show you that you really hurt her feelings, so she got angry and acted like she didn't care. Nate is the type of person who would do that. I bet you really hurt her feelings."

"Great." Carlos groaned. "She won't even look at me."

"Just give her a day or two." Lyra said, trying to cheer him up. "She'll probably be better tomorrow."

* * *

"She tried to kill me today in gym class." Carlos announced as he plopped down in his seat. His eyebrows looked they someone attempted to burn them off.

"We noticed…" Lyra shook her head.

"You ass!" Lily said, glaring at Carlos. She approached the table and put her hands on her hips. "How the hell could you say that to her after she agreed to help you?"

"I didn't mean to."

"But you still said it." Lily growled. "She just told me about it. You know how upset she was? I could destroy you!"

"Please don't!" Lyra said. "He's really sorry, you know that Lily. You know he would never say that to Nate and mean it. He's just under a lot of pressure right now."

"He better fix this." She threatened. "I refuse to let another asshole come in and make her so unhappy!"

"He will fix this." Proton said, his eyes fixing on Carlos. "But you need to fix all of this first." He told Lyra. "Before the Magmas decide to jump Carlos and beat the shit out of him."

* * *

Lyra looked at all the gangs lined up outside where gym class was normally held. She had planned this all out. Once she was done and went home, she was going to upload all the pictures from Spring Break so they would all be able to see how much fun they had together to really get them to see what they could be if they just got along.

"Okay, the people I call, please step forward." She announced. "All of the Plasmas, Emilie, Saturn, Cassius, Gabi, Brodie, Nate, Proton, and Carlos." Everyone except Cassius looked confused, since he knew what was going on. "Congrats!" Lyra cheered. "You have all won the game! Please step to the side by me!" She pointed to a spot and the all moved there.

"What's going on?" Ariana asked.

"Time for me to come clean to you guys. The teachers didn't want all of you competing against one another to see who the best gang was, they wanted you all to get along and bond, so you wouldn't fight as much. I honestly was not keeping score of anything you did." She said, a little nervous, but pushing it aside when Cassius gave her a supportive nod. "I'm sorry that I lied to all of you. Really."

She took another breath. "The people that won were the people that accepted other gang members. They didn't care at all. You…" She said, glaring at the ones who were in front of her, "are the absolute worst friends I have ever seen. You forbid your gang members to be with people that make them happy, just because their friend is in another gang. I'm still talking!" She shouted, glaring at Ariana when she tried to interrupt her. "Once again, I'm sorry I lied, to all of you." She turned to the people beside her. "But remember how happy we were at the beach and you were all getting along? Before they ruined it?" She questioned, pointing to the people standing in front of her.

She turned to the people in front of her. "Most of you probably don't like me, I don't really care to be honest. I just want you all to see what you did to your 'friends'." She said. "You made them miserable. You made them sneak behind your back so they could be with people they had common interests with, who they got along great with. You stressed them out, all because of a stupid rivalry. Well, guess what? None of you will be here next year. They will be running the gangs. You won't. So get over it." Lyra said. "You won't have control over them, and right now, you have no control over them. You all need to rethink what you did. You're dismissed. Congrats again to the winners." She smiled, everyone still in shock.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me?" Proton asked as he walked to his car.

"I wasn't allowed to tell. Lucia and the others knew, Cassius too, but that's because I needed to use his beach house." Lyra shrugged, holding his hand tightly. "I'm sorry, you're not mad, right? Besides, I did tell you the point of the games weren't to crush one another. Remember? I told you when we went and got ice cream a while back.

"No, why would I be?" He asked. "Oh yeah…I do remember that…that was a long time ago. Well, it feels like a long time ago. Do I get a prize for being a winner?"

"Hm, well you get a kiss. I won't kiss the others." Lyra smirked, kissing him. "I just hope they still want to be my friend…"

"Of course we will." Minuet smiled, coming up from behind her. "The plasmas dominated today."

"That's just because N runs you guys and he hates it when we all fight." Cassius rolled his eyes as he unlocked his car. "Glad I won though."

"We won." Gabi reminded him, sliding into the car. "Thanks Lyra." She smiled and Cassius gave her a thumbs up and got into his car.

"Told you." Proton smirked, opening the car door for her.

"Psh, I owned all of you guys!" Emilie exclaimed as she started her car, music already blasting. "I HEAR THE PEOPLE SING. SING A SONG OF A VICTIORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL, YOUNG WOMAN!" She sang happily. "ALSO KNOW AS ME!"

"Sounds more like Lyra." Carlos winked at Lyra and Proton elbowed him as he climbed into the back of Proton's car. "Library time!" He said, needing to study for the math test that was tomorrow. Thursday was going to suck

"They adore you." Proton told her, giving her another kiss before shutting the door and going around the car to get in on his side.

* * *

Carlos felt himself relax as he continued to jog Thursday night. He only had one more exam to take, mythology. Math had gone better than expected. He knew he should be at home studying for the exam tomorrow, but he could barely focus. It all reminded him of Nate and he started to feel horrible about what he had said to her. She still wouldn't look at him. If she saw him in school, she would just turn the other direction and act as if he wasn't there. He'd rather have her yelling at him than ignoring him.

He slowed down as he entered the park. It was empty, except one lone person sitting on a bench as their arcanine raced after a ball.

"Nate?" Carlos asked as she approached the bench from behind.

"What the hell!?" She was startled by him and dropped her book. She picked it back up and glared at him. She looked for her pokemon, but it was still chasing after the ball. "What are you doing out here this late?"

"Jogging." He answered, looking at his phone. It was only 11pm. "What are you doing out here?" He knew she was pissed at him.

"Playing with arcanine and reading." She put her book into her bookbag. "Plus I sort of got locked out of my parents' houses."

"What?"

"I left my keys on the kitchen counter in my mom's house. She's gone until tomorrow afternoon and my dad is in the next town over on business, so, I'm locked out." She explained, embarrassed and still mad at the boy.

"Nate." He sighed. "I'm really really sorry for what I said to you the other day. I really am. I didn't mean it at all."

"I don't care." She said, sitting down on the bench. He sat down next to her, even though she didn't want him too. She scooted away from him and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Yes, I know you do care. Lily told me today that you were really upset about it."

"She can't keep her mouth shut.." Nate growled.

"I've barely been able to focus on anything because of it. I know, I'm an asshole, I suck, I'm awful. You didn't deserve what I said to you, and I didn't mean it, trust me, I really didn't. I love it when you nag me and yell at me."

"You do?" She asked and arcanine trotted up. He smelled Carlos and rubbed his head against the boy, who scratched the pokemon's chin.

"Yes, I love it. I think it's cute. It means you care enough to nag me and worry about me." Carlos said, looking at the large pokemon. "Why don't you stay at my place tonight? I can't just leave you out here. I promise not to be all cranky and grumpy."

"Fine." She grumbled, getting up. "I'm not cute."

"Yes, yes you are. Look, you're getting all pouty." He smirked down at her and she glared, her face getting red.

"Shut up!" She said. "Or I won't help you study for the exam!"

* * *

"Carlos." His brother whispered, waking him up. "Don't want to alarm you, but there's a girl sleeping on our couch.

"What the hell?" Carlos yawned, it was 5am. "I know. It's Nate. Locked out of house. Tired." He mumbled out and hit his brother. "Sleep." He was up until 2am studying with Nate. It ended with her handing over her book filled with sticky notes, doodles, and notes all about the legendary pokemon for him to study.

"Never thought you'd be so calm about it." His brother left the room and Carlos fell back asleep. He didn't know how long it had been, but someone was now shaking him.

"Carlos, get up." Nate's voice broke through his dream and he cracked open one eye. She had her hands on his arm and was shaking him.

"Let me sleep." He whined, falling in and out of the dream world. She shook him again.

"It's 7!"

"7?" He questioned, sitting up in bed.

"We're going to be late! Maxie is going to kill us if we're tardy, you know he hates it when people are tardy to his class." She said frantically. "Please tell me you have like, a plaid button up shirt I can wear and pull off as my own shirt. I can't wear the same shirt two days in a row." She said and went through his closest. Carlos watched her, amused. She found one and ran out of the room to change. "This will work!" She exclaimed, coming back in and buttoned a few of the buttons up. It was a little big, but fit fine. She continued to rant about being late and Carlos watched her leave his room then come back in, trying to get her hair into ponytail or bun, he wasn't listening to her at all.

"Carlos!" She said, pulling his arm. "C'mon, get out of bed you lazy bum!" She exclaimed. He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, making their lips collide.

* * *

"Both of you tardy?" Maxie asked as Nate and Carlos scurried in a few minutes after the late bell.

"Car trouble." Carlos lied, shrugging. Lily shot Nate a look, knowing that the shirt she was wearing was definitely not her's and that she had tons of explaining to do.

"My alarm clock died on me and didn't go off. Sorry sir." Nate lied and Maxie believed her, but gave Carlos an unsure look.

"Looks like someone got some." Minuet joked and Nate glared at her.

"We just showed up at the same time." Nate said, shrugging. "It happens."

"Lie." Lily said, her eyes narrowing.

"What are you? Some lie detector?" Carlos asked, looking at her with raised eyebrows. "It's just a coincidence." He said and looked at Nate. "Right Nate?"

"Right." She said back, nodding her head. "Things happen."

* * *

"They have to be dating." Lily murmured to Lyra at lunch that afternoon. Lily was about to go sit with Flint, but she had to get Lyra's opinion.

"I don't think so." Lucia shook her head. "She's not mean to him, but they aren't acting like they're seeing each other."

"I have a gut feeling. That shirt she's wearing reeks of Carlos." Lily explained.

"What's going on?" Proton asked.

"Lily thinks Nate and Carlos have a thing going on or something." Lyra explained.

"I need to know too." Jo said, narrowing her eyes.

"I think they're being silly." Lyra said and held Proton's hand. He smiled at her and shrugged.

"Ah, I think there is something going on. Maybe they aren't dating, but, they are something." Proton said.

"What's up?" Carlos asked, sitting down at the table. Lily looked at him and he looked back. "….What's….going on Lily…?"

"I'm watching you buddy. If you make her cry I will end you." She threatened.

"Okay." Carlos said. "Well, that was great."

"Are you and Nate dating?!" Jo asked, needing to know.

"Who the hell told you that?" He asked, surprised. "Not dating."

"I don't believe you." Sakutaro said, shaking his head.

"What are you two then? You guys keep sneaking looks at each other." Jo exclaimed. "Something happened. Did you kiss her?"

"What?" He asked, his jello falling off of his fork.

"They must have." Sakutaro said, nodding his head.

"We just happened to show up late to first period together!" Carlos exclaimed. "Seriously."

"When did she give you her book?" Lily asked.

"What?" Carlos asked, looking down at the sticky note filled book.

"That's hers. She's had it for two years. She carries it with her whenever she goes. It's her legendary pokemon book her dad got for her. She never lets anyone borrow it."

"You know…Carlos…I've seen you wear that shirt that Nate is wearing before…" Proton muttered as he looked at the girl at her table. They all turned to look at her. She noticed. Her face went red and she looked down.

"Something happened." Sakutaro announced.

* * *

"Last week of school, aren't you excited?" Lyra asked Monday morning as she and Proton walked to his second period.

"Sort of." He shrugged, looking at the door to his class. "It says to go to gym this period. Guess Professor Oak is out sick."

"Yay! That means you are in gym with me." Lyra beamed and pulled him down the hall. "It'll be so great."

"I hear your gym class is usually very exciting." Proton said as they headed outside for the class.

"We just have a wide range of personalities." Lyra sighed.

"Guys!" Carlos exclaimed, startling both of them by how suddenly he appeared. "Guys guys guys I passed!" He waved a paper in front of their faces. Proton took it and read it over.

"With A's and B's at that." Proton said, nodding his head in approval. "Good job."

"You did it!" Lyra hugged him, excited. "I told you that you could do it!"

"I can't believe I did it." He hugged her back and then let her go. "I told Emilie and she sang some song. It freaked me out."

"That sounds like something she would do." Lyra said and looked around the gym class. A lot more people were here than usual. Probably because Professor Oak was sick and his class was told to come to gym.

"Did Carlos tell you?" Gabi asked as Lyra and Proton walked over to her and Cassius. Shelly was off in some battle with some other student.

"Yes!" Lyra smiled.

"I'm so happy for him." Gabi smiled back and Cassius rolled his eyes. "Don't be grumpy. You know you would hate it if you didn't have Carlos to argue with next year."

"Did he pass?" Lucia asked as she came outside. "I can't believe professor Oak is sick."

"I know. Yeah, he did." Proton told her.

"Good!" Emilie nodded her head and joined them. "I refused to let him fail, especially after I tutored him. I have wonderful teaching methods."

"Probably the yelling method, right?" Minuet joked as she joined the group.

"Are you for real!?" They heard Nate shout and turned to look at her and Carlos. "You did it!" She exclaimed and he hugged her, lifting her off the ground.

"No moving for me!" He said happily, planting a kiss on her head while he hugged her tightly.

"What the fuck?" Emilie questioned, looking at the two. "When did they….ARE YOU TWO DATING?!"

"We are now!" Carlos replied, putting the girl down.

"WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME? NO ONE TELLS ME ANYTHING." Emilie shouted.

"To be fair, we didn't know either." Lyra said to try and calm her down.

"Yeah, we were only going to date if I passed." Carlos said as he and Nate joined them. "Nate's rule. She said there was no point in us even going on a date if I was going to end up moving away."

"So you were wearing his shirt Friday!" Lily exclaimed, joining the group.

"Yes." Nate sighed.

"I knew it!" She said and shook her head. "WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME THINGS?"

"SAME HERE I DESERVED TO KNOW!" Emilie whined.

"This is why." Nate grumbled, but Carlos ruffled her hair and smiled.

"Aw, did we miss you two's first kiss?" Lily asked.

"Blame Carlos for that one…"

"You know, none of this would have happened if you didn't come here." Proton said after the two left the chatty group.

"It's pretty amazing now that I think about it.." She smiled, watching all her friends laugh and talk with each other. She held Proton's hand and looked at him. "I wouldn't have you if I didn't come here."

"I know. How sad would that be?" He chuckled. "I'd still be mean and cruel if you never showed up."

Lyra smirked at him and he put his arm around her.

"Hey! Stop being all lovey doveyyyyy!" Minuet shouted at them. "Let's battle! Couple style!"

"We're in." Gabi said and Cassius grabbed one of his pokeballs.

"Us too!" Lily exclaimed and Flint nodded his head.

"Time for us to win!" Emilie said with Cheren beside her.

"We'll win." Jo said as Morty joined her.

"No, we will." Lucia said confidently as Saturn joined her.

"Are you kidding? We'll light you guys up!" Nate exclaimed and Carlos grinned.

"Guess we'll have to show them who's the best, right?" Proton asked, looking at Lyra.

"Of course."

**FIN **

**(No worries, I still have the epilogue to post) **


	22. Chapter 22: Enter Epilogue

"Hey, don't fight over this." Lyra said to Cassius and Emilie, who were having a glare down.

"Lyra." Proton said, coming out into the gym area.

"Proton?" She asked, turning around. When she saw him, she ran at him and hugged him tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Decided to skip class and have an early start to the weekend." Proton said, hugging her back. "You weren't kidding when you said you had everyone in your gym class…"

"Yup." Lyra muttered, looking at the group. "We have Carlos, Nate and her new recruit, Mikhail." She pointed at the blonde girl and the blond boy standing next to her. "He acts just like Carlos, except he enjoys flirting with guys and girls, and looks like Nate. I think he's their child from the future." Lyra muttered. "Then Cassius with his new recut, Leighton. She's prissy, Gabi is there too. Leighton is nothing like them." The brunette Proton assumed was Leighton said something and Cassius glared at her, rolling his eyes. "Then we have Emilie with her new recruit, Jordan. She calls him she and Cheren's love child because he looks and acts like them. Once again, I believe he is their child from the future. Leighton is totally into him. Cassius doesn't like him though. Then we have N and his two recruits, Rosa and Nate."

"And you have Jo, Lily, Sakutaro, and Lucia?" Proton questioned when he saw the four of them. "Giovanni put you all in here on purpose."

"I know he did." Lyra shook her head.

"Protonnnn!" Carlos cheered, coming up to the couple. "How's college?"

"Fine. How are your grades?" Proton questioned, giving the boy a look.

"Don't worry, he's fine." Nate called out to them then turned and smacked Mikhail when he said something she didn't like. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!"

"That kid gets the shit beat out of him every day." Carlos shook his head. "Leighton beats him up along with Nate. His fault though, he doesn't have a filter."

"And you do?" Proton asked, eyebrows raised.

"I've had one installed."

"Correction," Jo said joining them. "Nate had one installed after he came over for dinner at her dad's house. Don't be embarrassed, not everyone is perfect, except Morty."

"Morty is definitely not perfect." Carlos rolled his eyes. "Nate, aren't I perfect?"

"Of course you are, sweetie." Nate waved her hand, her voice boarder-lining sarcasm.

"She knows I am."

"Hey, Jordan! We should team up and double battle!" Leighton cheered, but Jordan shook his head, turning her down.

"I'll team up and double battle with you Leighton." Sakutaro offered. "We'll blow his socks off."

"Yay!" Leighton cheered, calling out her piplup.

"I feel like our days are just on repeat, even though I know it's impossible." Lucia muttered. "Everyday, the same things happen. Emilie and Cassius argue, Leighton tries to impress Jordan, Jo talks about Morty, Lily talks about Flint, Gabi tries to stop Cassius from getting too annoyed by Emilie, Mikhail gets smacked around, and usually Carlos and Nate fight over something…"

"And you talk about how our days are on repeat." Lily finished.

"Sounds better than boring college classes." Proton yawned.

"They'll be better when I'm there next yearrr!" Lyra cheered, making Proton smile.

"Aw, cute." Lily cooed, smiling at the pair. "Flint, why aren't we that cute?"

"I dunno, I think we're pretty adorable." Flint rubbed the back of his neck.

"Can you believe that around this time last year, you came to our school?" Lucia asked Lyra.

"I know.." She mumbled. It was the exact day when she transferred to this school and met everyone. She only had a few more months until graduation, and then everyone would be going their separate ways. "I'm going to miss you guys when we graduate!"

"I'll miss you too." Jo said, realizing how close they were to leaving.

"That's so sad." Lily shook her head. "I don't want to think about it."

"Think about what?" Gabi asked, coming up to the group, letting Cassius and Emilie fight.

"BOY BAND REJECT!" Emilie shouted.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF INSULT IS THAT!?" Cassius shouted back.

"We're graduating soon!" Lily exclaimed.

"But we still have a few months until we graduate." Gabi said, unsure why everyone was so sad.

"And we'll most likely all go to the same college. Not like you guys have tons of special talents to get you into some fancy school, or the cash to get you guys to an out of state school." Nate chimed in, shrugging.

"No worries then." Carlos agreed. "If you focus too much on the future, you'll miss out on the present."

"That was deep." Lucia said, surprised.

"It was my fortune from my fortune cookie when we went out to dinner last night." Nate explained.

"Some things never really change." Lyra chuckled, looking at all of her friends. She knew she still had a few more months until graduation, but she was going to miss all of them. They were the best friends she could ever have. They would so funny, but would turn around and beat the shit out of someone for her if she needed them to. She remembered how much she dreaded coming to this school before, but now it was impossible to see herself anywhere else but here.

* * *

**What a horrible epilogue. I am so sorry for that. Thanks for reading this story and reviewing! I really appreciate it!**

**And sorry, but there will be no sequel. I want to focus on other stories, and also, what would I do in a sequel? Make everyone break up, date each other, then get back together? Have Lyra get kidnapped? It wouldn't be good. Some things just shouldn't have a sequel, and this is definitely one of them. Plus, it really is difficult to write a story with ocs in it.**

**I really had no clue what to do for an epilogue. They aren't usually long things, so I wanted it simple and sweet. **


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